Competition
by speed killz
Summary: Kagome is unaware that two of her friends both want her. But that will soon change as each put the moves on her. InuYasha and Sango fight for Kagome's affections. After all, a little competition is healthy, right...?
1. Beginning

Competition

Kagome sighed as she set her groceries down on the counter, and she began putting them away. She hadn't been able to afford much this week, so it was bare essentials. She had bought a box of white rice; her second favorite meal. The box was large, and could feed her for almost a month even if she ate it for three meals a day, seven days a week. Which she had done before. She would never get sick of rice; it was too good.

She continued putting a few more cans into her pantry, then crumpled up the two plastic bags, and shoved them into a larger bag hanging on the back of the pantry door. She sighed again, then closed the nearly empty pantry lest she become more depressed.

"Oh well," She sighed. "At least rent is paid for this month, so I don't have to worry about that for a while." She hummed softly to herself as she grabbed her school bag from the floor near the kitchen door, and walked into the living room. She didn't have far to go. The small apartment her part-time job could afford was far from luxurious, but right now Kagome didn't care too much. It did its job....mostly. Winter was a cold thing for this building; heat was a luxury, not a utility. No matter if she paid her heating bill or not, it rarely worked when it was needed most.

She sat down on a couch she had taken from her parents house when she had moved out, and opened her bag. She pulled her math book out from inside the overstuffed bag, and opened it to a dog-eared page. Humming softly once again to herself, she set about doing her math homework.

It was some time later when a knock on the door startled her out of her trance. She quickly snapped the book shut and threw it on the couch. She stood up, smoothed her jeans, and straightened her black shirt, before walking toward the door. She wasn't expecting any company, so she wasn't sure who it could be.

As she opened the door, her confusion turned to happiness as a slightly pouty InuYasha stood in the main hallway.

"InuYasha!" She exclaimed. "You came to visit me!"

InuYasha rolled his eyes. "You asked me to, you idiot."

Kagome's excitement dimmed as she pondered that for a moment. "Yeah, well, me asking you is the only way you ever agree to hanging out." She said. "Sometimes I think you don't like me."

InuYasha rolled his eyes again, and pushed his way into the house. "Right, right."

"So, whats for food?" He asked, spotting Kagome's book on the couch and picking it up curiously.

Kagome paused for a fraction of a second, then her smile was back in place, albeit a bit strained. "Whatever you can find in my cupboards." She said, her voice strained.

InuYasha's ear twitched, and he considered her words for a moment. Then he snorted.

"Feh, wouldn't want to eat anything you touched anyway." Kagome started to protest, but InuYasha cut her off. "I'm going to go out to eat, do you want to come?"

Kagome bit her lip. "I don't have any money..."

InuYasha shook his head. "I wouldn't ask if I wasn't going to pay for you, idiot." He said. "Go get ready, I've gotta use the washroom real quick, then we're leaving."

Kagome nodded, and followed InuYasha down the hall. As InuYasha slipped into the bathroom and shut the door, Kagome turned in the opposite direction and entered her room.

She quickly ran a comb through her hair, and checked her makeup. Her clothes were fresh, and she smiled at herself in the reflection. She dropped the comb and picked up a brush, running it through her hair a few times. When she was finished, she grabbed a pair of pure white DC's from her closet, and slid them on. They were brand new, and hadn't been worn yet. She figured she'd get a month or so out of them before the snow fell. It was early September.

She walked out of the room, and grabbed her white sweater hanging on her door knob. It was a tight-fitting tiny sweater, one she loved to death. She slipped it on, then did it half way up.

"Ready InuYasha!" She said loudly, not quite yelling.

InuYasha said nothing, but she heard the faucet turn off and InuYasha emerged, looking at her. She stared back at him, until his eyebrow raised.

"Go?" He posed it as a question, and she blushed, tearing her eyes away from him and scurrying down the hallway. She reached the door, and turned around to see InuYasha straightening up from leaning over her kitchen table.

InuYasha caught her look and cut off her questioning glance. "Go. I'm hungry."

Kagome obliged, stepping out into the hallway as InuYasha slid his feet into his purple Supra hightops. He left her apartment, then waited as Kagome locked the door. Once she was done, they walked down the hall together, and down a flight of stairs before reaching the ground floor.

As they left the apartment complex, a gust of brisk wind caught the door and slammed it closed, rattling the glass in the frame. Kagome mouthed a silent 'Oops' before walking down the sidewalk, following InuYasha.

"Parked my car down the street aways." He said. "There were a few cars parked out front here earlier along the street, and I wasn't chancing anybody backing into my car or something stupid."

Kagome smiled fondly at him. "Your so proud of that thing." She said. InuYasha shrugged. "I put a lot of work into it, thats why." He said. "It's my baby."

InuYasha and Kagome stopped near a shiny black car parked at the curb, and InuYasha reached into his pocket for his keyless remote. The lights flashed twice, and the doors unlocked. Kagome however didn't get in; she gasped as she took in the changed appearance of the car.

"You did more work to it, didn't you?" She asked. InuYasha nodded, pleased that she had noticed.

"Yup, the original 1990 Toyota Celica GT-S bodystyle wasn't doing it for me anymore. It looks a little better now, don't you think?"

Kagome nodded. "It's lower to the ground, wider stance, better wing...looks good InuYasha, congratulations!"

InuYasha smiled, then rounded the front of the car to the drivers side. "Get in!" He commanded, opening his door and getting in.

Kagome did as he ordered, and sat down into new dark red bucket seats.

"Mmmm, interior is very very nice." She said, looking over the dark red trim that replaced the old trim.

"Baby, you ain't seen nothing yet." InuYasha said, pressing the clutch to the floor and starting the car. As the car came to life, the whole interior of the car lit up dark red, to match the trim and the seats. The dome light had been changed, along with lights underneath the seats, aimed forward to light up the floor. The roof edges along the door jambs had dark red lights set into them, also. The dash lights lit up in the same red as the lights, another aesthetic modification.

Kagome was stunned by the effect the lights had in the somber grey sky of the afternoon cloudy day, and was intrigued as to how it would look at night.

InuYasha smirked, jammed the shifter into first, and dropped clutch, revving the engine as he did so. The tires squealed slightly, before InuYasha let off the gas, the car pulling away from the curb and accelerating down the street.

"Where to?" InuYasha asked, shifting from first to third. He had deliberately skipped second, using third as an 'economy gear' for the speed they were going, to keep the engine RPM's down.

Kagome shook her head. "I don't know. Nowhere expensive, though."

InuYasha snorted once again. "I told you, idiot, I'm paying."

Kagome glared at him. "Exactly my point."

inuYasha shrugged off her words, and looked at her slyly, left hand on the wheel, and right hand resting on the shifter. "You realize that if you don't make up your mind, I'll just go to McDonalds, right?"

Kagome shuddered. "Ew, I don't like that idea at all..."

InuYasha smirked. "Then pick!" He said.

Kagome hummed. "Are we talking fast food, or restaurant food?" She asked.

InuYasha answered her question with another question. "What do you want to eat?"

Kagome was silent for a few minutes, deciding. InuYasha slowed slightly, in case the place she picked was in the opposite direction. He was headed out of town as it was, but he saw no reason to turn around yet. There were some good places out of town. Still in third, his engine RPM dropped to about fifteen hundred, and the exhaust note fell to a gentle hum, barely audible inside the car. Kagome idly watched as the buildings outside the window rolled by, until an idea came to her.

"InuYasha..."

-_-_-

Sango smiled to herself as she stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her body. Her wet, dark brown hair stuck to her back and neck as she wiped the moisture off the wall mirror. She reached into the drawer, and withdrew her toothbrush and toothpaste. As she brushed, she idly wondered what Kagome was up to, and if she would be up for hanging out tonight.

Kagome had been her best friend since Jesus was a baby, and honestly, Sango wouldn't want it any other way. Kagome was sometimes dense, air-headed, forgetful, and clumsy, but when something came up and one of her friends had a problem, Kagome really applied herself, and suddenly there wasn't a better listener to be found in the entire world, no one more willing to help out or do their best for little or no reward, all to see a smile put back on her friends face.

Sango finished drying off, and put her clothes on quickly. Over her black lace underwear went a very tight pair of faded and ripped blue jeans. Over her black bra, went a tight red V-neck shirt with very short sleeves. Sango then proceeded to skillfully apply her favorite pink eyeliner.

She traded her eyeliner for a comb, and combed out her still damp hair.

"Jeez, I can't believe I got up so late on my day off." Sango muttered to herself as she collected her dirty clothes from the bathroom floor and tossed them into the laundry basket. Opening the bathroom door, the heat escaped, only to be replaced with slightly chilled air, sending a shiver down her back and causing goosebumps to pop up on her arms.

As she walked into her room, she reached onto her dresser and picked up her cell phone. She had been in the shower for forty-five minutes, and had recieved three text messages. Two were from Miroku, and another from InuYasha. She read the ones from Miroku first, and found that he was merely wondering what she was up to. Not having recieved any reply, the second message he sent detailed some very naughty things that she could be doing that would make her not respond to her texts for such a lengthy amount of time. Sango exited that second message halfway through it, a light blush on her cheeks and a glare on her face. She opened the one from InuYasha, and saw that it was sent at 5:45. It was now 6:03. This text was pretty much InuYasha bragging about how he had picked up Kagome for the night and how they were right now cruising for something to eat. Her own stomach growled in response, and Sango stuck her tongue out childishly at the text. Then, she rapidly keyed in a response before clicking her phone shut and shoving it into her pocket.

She then walked from her room into the hallway, then downstairs. She had it in her mind to make some food; she really was hungry.

As she watched the pizza pops slowly revolve in the microwave, she felt her phone vibrate once. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her black phone, flipping it open. InuYasha had responded back. She smiled.

_Haha, that's what you get for sleeping in so damn late. Maybe we'll swing by later to see you. I don't know. Haven't talked to her yet._

Sango quickly wrote back an "Okay, text me when you know." and opened the microwave. She pulled her pizza pops out, and set them on the table. She opened the refrigerator and grabbed the carton of chocolate milk. There was probably only two glasses worth left in it, so she didn't bother with the glass. She took the cover off the chocolate milk and raised the jug to her lips, taking a long swallow.

She set the jug down on the table next to her plate, and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand. She sat down and began to eat, wondering how much longer InuYasha and Kagome would be. Thinking about it, she reached into her pocket and withdrew her phone. She located Kagome's name in her contacts list, and composed a new message. Ten seconds later, she sent it, and set her phone on the table, before continuing to eat.


	2. Friday Night Drinking

Competition, Chapter 2.

A/N: Okay. So this is the second chapter of my Competition fic. Theres no major development in this chapter, but I do set up some groundwork for the fic. Please have patience, and soon all this will start to make some sort of sense. Enjoy!

Sango finished washing her plate off, and she put it into the cupboard. She was thinking about calling up Ayame and inviting her over, but she wasn't sure how InuYasha and Kagome would like that. Not that there was any ill will between them and Ayame; there couldn't be. They had never met before.

Sango hummed softly to herself as she pulled out her phone, and walked into the living room. She started texting with her left hand, as she slapped her computer awake with her right. The computer came to life instantly, the screen coming on to reveal a beautiful black '09 CBR 600 RR as her desktop background. She smiled at it fondly; her newest savings project.

She quickly opened up iTunes, and turned her speakers up, clicking on Deadmau5. Cat on a Leash was up first, and she turned the speakers up even louder, so the music could be heard throughout the house.

Finishing her text, she snapped her phone shut and glanced at the clock. It was nearing 6:30, and she had absolutely nothing to do. She sighed, and flopped onto the couch, staring thoughtfully at her desktop background.

-_-_-

InuYasha stood up, and Kagome followed suit. She smiled at him thankfully, and he merely stared back at her before looking away. "Let's go." he said, his tone meant to be harsh, but somehow coming out too soft for his liking.

"Thanks InuYasha." Kagome said, looking at him sideways as he put his hand on her shoulder and gently pushed her forward. They had come to a nice, quiet restaurant a little ways out of town, and Kagome was surprised that InuYasha had agreed to come here. The place was filled with dates looking for a quiet meal, and Kagome was sure that InuYasha wasn't comfortable with the appearance he was presenting everyone else by taking her here.

InuYasha shook his head at her gratitude. "Maybe we'll do this again sometime." He said, surprising her.

Kagome stared at him in open surprise as he held the door open for her. "R-really?" She asked. InuYasha's eyes narrowed as he followed her through the door.

"Yeah, you gotta eat at least one good meal a month." He said. "God, I can't believe you actually eat your own cooking. I figure you should have something civilized every once in a while."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Whatever, my cookings fine." She mumbled.

As she got closer to InuYasha's car, the pop-up headlights flipped up and flashed twice, as did both the turning signals, and the sound of the doors being unlocked was faintly heard.

As they both got into the car, she was surprised that it was so dark out.

"What time is it?" She asked. InuYasha started the car, and the dash clock flashed on. "Quarter to eight." he said.

Kagome hummed. "Wow, didn't know we were out that long." She said to herself. Before InuYasha could come up with a smart-ass reply, she cut him off. "Where to now?"

InuYasha shoulder-checked for traffic, then whipped out into the lane. He quickly accelerated, bringing the car up to within 600 RPM of redline before throwing the clutch in and harshly shifting to second. He rally shifted, giving the engine two quick shots of gas to keep the engine RPM close to redline before dropping the clutch, and the tires chirped slightly before regaining traction.

"We coul-" InuYasha was cut off as Kagome put a finger to his lips. "Shush." Was all she said. InuYasha stopped, and wondered what she was doing, as he pressed the pedal to the floor. The engine RPM climbed steadily, and this time he waited as long as he dared before shifting to third. On this rally shift, the tach touched the redline, before dropping fifteen hundred RPM as he dropped the clutch and engaged third.

Now well over the speed limit, InuYasha took his foot off the gas, and let the RPM as well as his speed slowly settle. A small smile came over Kagome's face, as she removed her fingers from InuYasha's lips.

"Damn, I love the sound of your car." She said softly. InuYasha laughed. "You'd better. That's a three hundred dollar Apexi exhaust back there."

Kagome smiled. "Anyway, what were you saying?" She asked.

InuYasha gently pressed the gas to hold the engine RPM at two grand, and looked at her. "I was gonna say that we could always go to Sango's. If you want. She has been texting us all night asking if we could come over."

Kagome nodded slowly. "We could..."

InuYasha glanced at her quickly, then looked back at the road. "She also wants to know if its okay if she invites over a friend we've never met before."

Kagome nodded. "I don't care, fine with me." She said. "Wanna go over there?"

InuYasha shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Kagome nodded. "Alright, lets go!"

In response, InuYasha pressed the clutch to the floor, and downshifted into second. He raised the RPM to about forty-five hundred, so that the engine speed closer matched the output shaft speed, and dropped clutch. There was little clutch-slippage as the engine RPM shot up to meet the speed of the transmission; he had done this too many times before. This time, he was off by only a few hundred RPM.

The car swiftly accelerated forward, and InuYasha listened to the engine build RPM. Without taking his eyes off the road, he knew he was within 500 RPM of redline, and he rally shifted, flicking on his left blinker and pulling out into oncoming traffic. He held the pedal to the floor, and flew by the slower car that was obeying the speed limit. He stayed in the oncoming lane longer than he really should have, and when he could see Kagome figeting nervously in the passenger seat about the bright headlights in front of them that were only getting brighter, he flicked on his right blinker and flew back into the right lane.

He shifted into fourth, and the engine pitch dropped to a high growl, RPM hovering in the four thousand range. He had driven this road many times, and knew it very well, but since it was night and he was outside of town, he wasn't risking another full-speed upshift and going any faster than 110.

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kagome glance at him.

"How long have you had your licence InuYasha?" She asked.

InuYasha shrugged. "Four years."

Kagome's eyebrow raised. "You got your licence when you were fourteen?" She asked.

"Learners." InuYasha corrected.

"Oh."

InuYasha nodded, and shifted into fifth, to ease his gas consumption and lessen the strain on his engine. The exhaust note abruptly dropped into a soft hum.

InuYasha pulled out his phone, and flipped it open. He started texting, when he heard Kagome's gasp. He swiftly looked up at the road, and, seeing nothing alarming, looked at her. His feet had flown to the clutch and brake, ready to slam both down at a seconds notice, but now he removed them and returned his foot to the gas.

"What?" He asked puzzled.

"Your texting while driving?" She asked.

InuYasha nodded. "Yeah, so?"

"Isn't that dangerous?"

InuYasha shrugged. "I do it all the time, who cares?"

Kagome glared at him. "I CARE!" She said.

InuYasha snorted. "Fine," he said, tossing his phone to her. "Text Sango and tell her we're five minutes away."

Kagome glared at him a second longer, then picked up his phone and did as he asked. When she finished, she put his phone in the glove box, making him roll his eyes.

"You'll get it back when we stop in Sango's driveway." She said firmly.

InuYasha nodded. "Yes Ma'am."

A few minutes later, and InuYasha slowed slightly, throwing his car into neutral and coasting the next few hundred feet. The turn off to Sango's was a little hard to find in the dark, but he knew where it was. Once the turn-off was upon him, he braked hard and threw his car around the right-hand corner. His front wheels slipped for a second on the gravel, his car plowing forward a few feet, before they caught and the vehicle turned sharply. InuYasha threw a quick glance at the speedometer, and saw that it read 45. He threw the gear-shift into second and dropped clutch. His front wheels gained traction immediately, and his car accelerated down the access road. Sango didn't live too far down the road, and he didn't bother flicking on his left blinker before cutting the wheel to the right and turning onto her dirt and gravel driveway. He downshifted into first and idled down her drive, before stopping behind her car. Her driveway was on a slight incline, and he wondered for a second if his worn E-brake could hold his car. He ripped the E-brake, and held the clutch in, releasing the brake. Slowly, his car began to roll backward, and he sighed. He would have to get that fixed. He shut off his engine, put the E-brake down, and released the clutch. As he let go of the brake, the transmission still in first, the car rolled slightly before the gears bit and the car rocked to a stop. He grinned, and got out.

"Let's go Kagome. Grab my phone, would ya?"

"Sure." She reached into the glove box, and grabbed his phone, before getting out and shutting his door. They walked up to Sango's front door, and knocked on it loudly. A few seconds later, and they heard a series of small, rapid thumps, followed by one loud thump and a cry of pain. A few seconds later, and the door opened, a wincing Sango greeting them.

InuYasha bit back a laugh, as Kagome looked at her worriedly.

"Sango are you alright? What happened?"

Sango limped back out of the way, and let them in. "Well," She said, as she closed the door. "I heard the knocking on the door and I was upstairs, so I ran down the stairs to get it, slipped on the third last step and fell down the stairs." She said.

At this, InuYasha burst out laughing, unable to contain himself any longer. Sango grimaced as she slapped his shoulder, while Kagome merely shook her head and gave her a hug.

"So how are you?" Kagome asked. Sango shrugged. "Sorta bored all day." She said. "How about you?"

kagome returned the shrug. "Enjoying my two days off before I start work again. Monday to Friday."

Sango hummed. "Well, it IS a Friday night, what do you guys want to do?"

InuYasha looked at Sango with a smirk on his face. "Got any liquor?" He asked.

Sango's eyes narrowed. "If we drink, you guys all gotta stay the night. No leaving." She said. They both nodded, and Sango relaxed. "Okay. What do you guys want?"

InuYasha hummed. "Got vodka?" He asked. Sango rolled her eyes. "When do I NOT have vodka?" She asked. "Crystal Skull or Smirnoff?"

InuYasha humed. "Ooh, tough one. I love Smirnoff, but....Crystal Skull it is." He said. Sango turned to Kagome. "You?"

Kagome looked at her friend hopefully. "Got any Malibu Coconut?" She asked. Sango made a face. "No, yuck. I swear your the only person who likes drinking that stuff, especially straight."  
Kagome hummed. "Okay, then do you have Smirnoff coolers?"

InuYasha laughed at her choice of drink, and she shot him a look. Sango nodded. "Yeah, any particular flavor?"

Kagome shook her head. "Surprise me."

Sango pointed to the couch, and nodded. "Make yourselves at home, my friend will be here in a few minutes."

Sango turned and headed toward the basement, pulling out her phone as she went. She had to text Ayame and tell her to bring her own booze. She knew what Ayame liked to drink, and she didn't have it.

Sango chuckled as she got the requested drinks out of the freezer and fridge. Ayame was shy, withdrawn, easily embarrassed....until she started drinking. Boy, were those two upstairs ever in for a surprise.

As she carried the drinks up the stairs, she felt her phone vibrate. She ignored it until she set the drinks down in front of InuYasha and Kagome, then pulled out her phone. It was Ayame.

_Hey, sure thing. Are we drinking alone tonight or do you have company?_

Sango quickly told her about her other two friends, and promised her that they would be nice.

InuYasha and Kagome had drank at Sango's house enough times that they knew where everything was, and InuYasha got up to go to the kitchen.

"I'm grabbing four shot glasses," He warned. "And nobody is backing out tonight."

Sango laughed, and sat down next to Kagome.

"So, are you still single?" Sango asked jokingly. Kagome rolled her eyes. "You mean, did I get a boyfriend in the time since you asked me that last night? The answer would be no." She said.

Sango laughed. "Jeez Kagome, are you gonna be single for the rest of your life?"

Kagome shook her head. "No....I'm just waiting for the right person to come along." She said.

Sango was about to reply, but InuYasha had returned with four small shot glasses. He set them on the table, and lined them up next to each other, rims touching.

"Okay, we'll wait for your friend to get here, make the appropriate introductions, and start the night off with a straight vodka shot. Agreed?" He looked around the table, and they all nodded.

Kagome wasn't sure why, but she was unusually eager to drink tonight. Judging by the expression on Sango's face, she was too.

InuYasha always had that effect on people though. When you were near him, you felt the urge to just relax and have fun, like he did. Not to mention InuYasha was a hilarious drunk.

No sooner had Sango whipped open her phone to see where Ayame was, then they heard a knock at the door. Sango didn't bother to get it; a second later, the door opened and a girl walked in.

InuYasha turned to see who was walking in, and his eyes widened. He didn't know who was coming over, but he sure wasn't expecting this...very pretty girl. He gave her the once-over, nodding to himself in approval. Her long dark red hair was up in two ponytails, one on either side of her head. Her large green eyes were exceptionally beautiful, and her clean, pure skin was very attractive. She was wearing a pure white T-shirt, tight fitting and hugging her body, and her black bra was almost visible beneath it. Her faded light blue jeans were ripped and torn in several places, each one of them revealing an attractive and tantalizing piece of skin. She wore no socks, and kicked off her black Circa's with ease, slowly making her way over to the group already at the table. She carried a plastic bag in her hand, which she put down on the glass table. InuYasha noticed that she had determinedly kept her eyes only on Sango, a light blush already forming on her cheeks.

"Hey Ayame, come join the group." Sango said. Ayame nodded, and Kagome slid over so that Ayame could sit beside Sango, the only person she knew.

Ayame nodded her thanks, and sat beside Sango, staring at the table.

Sango smiled at her friends shy behavior, and knew that it was going to change drastically, very soon.

"Ayame, this is InuYasha. InuYasha, Ayame." Ayame looked up to catch InuYasha's gaze, and he nodded to her. She nodded in return, and returned her gaze to the table.

"Ayame, this is my friend Kagome. Kagome, meet Ayame." Ayame looked up again to catch Kagome's gaze, and this time Ayame managed a soft, "Hello." Her voice was beautiful.

InuYasha took it upon himself to get this party started; he knew if he didn't, no one else would. He pointed to the shot glasses lined up beside each other.

"Hey, Ayame, I don't know what you like to drink, but if it's okay with you, we're gonna start off with a straight vodka shot, okay?"

Ayame, her arms folded across her stomach, looked up at him and nodded.

InuYasha, glad that she had agreed, picked up the Crystal Skull and removed the top. He began pouring it into the shot glasses, moving the stream across the shot glasses. He had done this many times before, and he didn't spill a drop. He filled the shot glasses almost to the brim, and Kagome groaned.

"InuYasha, are you trying to kill us?"

InuYasha grinned. "Don't even worry, Kid. This is just the beginning."

Sango rolled her eyes, and got up. Everyone else followed her lead, even InuYasha. He got up from where he was kneeling on the carpet, and took one of the glasses in his hand.

"Ready?" He asked. They all picked up glasses carefully, and nodded.

InuYasha looked around at the three people standing around him, and grinned. "GO!"

Before he was even finished saying it, Ayame had raised the shot to her lips and swallowed it in one gulp. Sango and Kagome matched InuYasha, finishing a second after Ayame.

InuYasha set his glass down on the table, and straightened up, a smirk on his face. "Okay, first off, let's get some music going on here. Any favorite genres, so I know what to work with?"

Sango laughed. "Anything pretty much. Death metal, electronica, trance, techno, rap, rock, you name it. Pretty much, if its on my iTunes, I like it."

Ayame shrugged. "I can live with that." She said.

InuYasha turned to Kagome. "Kagome?" He asked. Kagome bit her lip, wishing it wasn't up to her.

"Uhh...wanna start off with God Module?" She asked. A grin spread over InuYasha's face, and he nodded. "Nice choice. Seems your taste in music is getting better!"

Kagome smiled, and reached out for one of her coolers. InuYasha saw it, and glared at her. "Don't you dare, we aren't done yet!" With his warning issued, he walked over to the computer. Sango had a bit of a technologic side, and her computer was a mammoth. It had a 500 GB hard drive, 1 TB external hard drive, 4 GB of RAM, the best audio and video cards, wireless and ethernet connection, and it was linked directly to the other two computers in the house, one being a desktop and the other being a laptop, via wireless.

InuYasha quickly brought up God Module, and let it play over the speakers. He turned it up just a bit, then sauntered back over, grinning at the girls.

"Now," He said. "The next part of this is really simple. Whatever drink you are drinking for the rest of the night, or whatever-" He turned to Kagome, "Kagome, for example, has her coolers, Ayame has whatever she brought, Sango has her drink, and I have mine. We are going to take one FULL drink and chug it. No exceptions. After this, then we can slow down for a bit, before we pick up the pace again." He said.

Everyone around him nodded, and Kagome picked up her cooler again.

InuYasha jumped up, ran into the kitchen, and returned with two glasses and a 2 litre of Pepsi. He set them down on the table, then grabbed his vodka. He poured some into his glass, filling it halfway up. Kagome's eyes widened at that, while Sango merely laughed. InuYasha then filled the rest of the glass with Pepsi. He brought the glass to his nose and sniffed appreciatively.

"Ahh...fifty-fifty mix. Is there anything better in the world?"

Kagome wrinkled her nose, and this earned another laugh from Sango.

InuYasha then set his cup down, and turned to Ayame. "What did you bring?" He asked. Grinning for the first time, she reached into her plastic bag, and withdrew seven cans of Rockstar-Vodka. It was a Rockstar energy drink, but with 6.9% vodka in it. InuYasha eyed the tall cans appreciatively, then nodded.

"Sango?"

Sango grabbed the other glass and set it in front of her. She then grabbed the dark green bottle of Jagermeister from the table, and poured half a glass for herself, matching InuYasha. She then reached for the Pepsi, to mix her drink with.

InuYasha smirked as he got an idea, and Sango was pretty sure that everyone would be doing Jager-bombs later on tonight.

"Kagome?" He turned to her. Kagome raised her cooler.

InuYasha nodded. "Okay, this is a straight chug, no stopping until your completely finished." He said. "Ready?"

They nodded, and InuYasha brought his glass closer.

"Aaand...GO!"

InuYasha raised the glass to his lips and started chugging, feeling the vodka burning his throat as it went down.

InuYasha was surprised when Ayame slammed down her empty can first; he was usually the fastest chugger. He set down his empty cup, followed a few seconds later by Sango.

Then they both turned to look at Kagome, who easily had more than half of her cooler left, and was trying valiantly to catch up.

InuYasha laughed, but cheered her on, telling her she couldn't stop until she was finished. Finally, she set her bottle down, a light blush on her cheeks from being so slow.

InuYasha cleared his throat, then rocked back onto his bum, kicking his legs out in front of him.

"Whoa, I'm feeling it now." He said, blinking a few times.

Ayame nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling a little bit of it."

Kagome nodded, then squeezed her eyes closed. "Bad idea..." She mumbled.

InuYasha laughed. "Oh, we are far from done." He said.

"Everybody get another drink, only this one is just for sipping on. For now."

Kagome and Ayame each opened another drink, while Sango and InuYasha mixed another one, same strength.

InuYasha was the first to open up the conversation.

"So, Ayame," He said, taking a gulp from his cup. "Tell us about yourself."

Ayame leaned back on the couch and stared at the silver-haired hanyou on the floor. Kagome was to her left on the couch, and Sango on her right.

"Well, my name is Ayame, obviously, I'm seventeen, but not for much longer. I live down the road from Sango, on an acerage just like hers, in a big house much like hers. I like to go off-roading, I own two ATV's and a dirtbike. I actually drove my dirtbike here." She said. "But uh...yeah. I don't have my own car yet, but I'm trying to fix that situation." She said.

InuYasha nodded, and raised his glass to her. "We will have to go off-roading sometime."

Ayame nodded, and InuYasha tilted his glass up, draining the whole thing in a single gulp.

InuYasha set his cup down on the glass table, and set about making another drink, this time making it only slightly weaker. As he was screwing the cap back on the Pepsi, Ayame set down another empty can, and opened her third.

InuYasha looked at her, and grinned. "Wow, someone's in it to win it." He said teasingly. Ayame laughed. "Not as much as you are, apparently."

InuYasha grinned, then grabbed the Crystal Skull and took a swig of straight vodka.

"Damn right." He said. Kagome opened her second cooler and took a sip, knowing that she would have to keep the slow pace or the next time she stood up, she would go for a trip.

InuYasha smirked as he saw Kagome opening her second cooler. "Well, as it stands, me and Ayame are a drink ahead of everybody else. Hurry." He said to Kagome and Sango. "Chug it. Catch up."

Sango sighed, but she was game. Upending her glass, she swiftly chugged what was left of it, before setting her glass down on the table.

"Your turn Kagome."

Kagome hesitated for a second, and looked at InuYasha. He shrugged. "Fuck it, just get smashed out of your face tonight."

Kagome thought about it, then decided it wasn't that bad of an idea. She too began chugging her drink, and at the end of it, she could feel herself starting to get pretty tipsy. And she wasn't even standing yet. Dear Lord.

Kagome and Sango got another drink, and now they were all even again. Suddenly, InuYasha stood up, swaying slightly for a second before he regained his balance.

"Grab your drinks, we're going for a walk." He said. The three girls looked up at him questioningly, then saw that he was completely serious. They stood slowly, getting a feel for their drunkeness levels, as InuYasha made another drink. Once they were ready, they wandered over to the door, where they all slipped on their shoes. It was now nearing ten at night, and it was a bit nippy out, but none of them noticed.

"Where are we going, InuYasha?" Ayame asked, jumping off the front steps, then staggering into InuYasha. She clung onto his arm for a second, before she regained her balance. Once she did though, she didn't move away from him.

"Don't matter." He said. "We just gonna walk around and see whats what. Plus, its fun to walk around in the dark. Drunken walks are the best!" He exclaimed. "Although, their a little bit funner in the city. More shit to fuck around with."

Ayame giggled, as Sango and Kagome exited the house. Kagome had put her sweater back on, and Sango had grabbed a black sweater from her closet. Seeing them put clothes on confused InuYasha, and Ayame watched as he looked at them, then down at himself, then them again.

He then looked at Ayame with a confused look on his face.

"Wait, why the fuck am I wearing a shirt?" He asked, reaching down and grabbing the hem of his tight black shirt. He lifted it up over his head, and dropped it on the steps. "Fucking shirt. Knew I was doing something wrong." He said. "I'm not supposed to be wearing you!"

Ayame giggled, then shivered. "Well hey, if you don't want it, don't mind if I do!" She said loudly, bending over and picking his shirt up off the steps. As she straightened up, she staggered back a few steps, bumping into InuYasha.

"Oops, sorry!" She said. InuYasha laughed. "It's okay, you didn't spill my drank, so its all good." He said. Ayame turned around and slipped his shirt over her head, before looking at him confused.

"Drank?" She asked.

InuYasha nodded. "This has ceased to become a 'drink.' Now that I am thoroughly intoxicated, this is now my 'drank.'"

Ayame nodded slowly. "Yeaaa-No, I don't get it." She said. "But oh well, lets go for a walk!" Ayame quickly drank what was left in her can, before tossing it onto the deck. Sango was too drunk to care at the moment, and she put her arm around Kagome's shoulder. "Let's go!" She said. "Wonder what my backyard is like at night, anyway?"

The four walked around Sango's house, finding the trail that led into the thick woods of her backyard. As they walked down the trail, laughing and giggling, Ayame slipped closer and closer to InuYasha. She wasn't making physical contact with him yet; she was merely walking by his side, staying close to him as they walked through the pitch-black woods. Sango and Kagome could barely see, and kept stumbling, laughing hysterically as they did.

The exploration lasted for an two and a half hours. They had gotten lost multiple times, couldn't remember what path they had taken, or where Sango's house was, and InuYasha eventually had to find their way back home for all of them. As they stumbled through the doorway, InuYasha quickly pushed toward the table that held all the alcohol.

"Another drink for everyone!" He called out, earning cheers from the three girls. "And this time, chug, followed by a shot of vodka!!"

A/N: Ahh God....gotta love consuming alcoholic beverages. It's always epic as fuck. Annnyway, another character has been introduced, and I've set up part of the plot. For those unsure of whats really going on right now, don't worry, it will sort itself out as updates come. Right now I've just set up a little conflict of interest, and the dramaz are about to ensue. Please read and review!


	3. Waking Up

Competition, Chapter 3.

After the chug, followed by a shot of vodka, everyone was quite drunk. InuYasha had flopped down onto Sango's couch, laying down and stretching out as he watched the girls laugh and giggle amongst themselves. However, it wasn't long before Ayame whispered something into Sango's ear, and broke off from the two girls, heading toward InuYasha.

"Hey sexy." She greeted him quietly, standing in front of the couch and staring down at him. InuYasha met her gaze. "Hey there." He replied. "What's going on?"

Ayame hummed. "Oh...nothing. Just wondering if you wanted some company."

InuYasha's eyes widened, but he didn't say no. He merely nodded, and Ayame purred happily as she laid down on his chest. InuYasha hesitantly wrapped his arm around her waist as she snugged against his chest, and he was surprised at how light she was. It was like she was barely on top of him. His intoxicated mind started to drag him down into sleepiness, and he closed his eyes, pulling her closer. She giggled, and tangled her fingers in his hair.

InuYasha was quite comfortable, and considering falling asleep, when he decided that he wanted to know more about the girl on top of him. Forcing his eyes open, he tilted his head up and sniffed gently at the top of Ayame's head.

"Hey Ayame?" He asked.

"Mmm?"

"What's your favorite color?"

She smirked, although InuYasha couldn't see it. "Humm....depends. I think green though, emerald green is the best."

InuYasha nodded. "Yeah that is a good color..."

Ayame nuzzled his cheek. "Anything else?" She asked.

InuYasha nodded. "Yeah, you mind if I find out a bit more about you?" He asked.

Ayame nodded. "Go ahead."

"Where do you live?"

"Down the street from Sango."

"Oh. How did you and her meet?"

"Met a few years ago at a car exhibition."

"Car exhibition?" InuYasha asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't really know what it was called. It certainly wasn't a 'car show' because all the cars there were shit. At car shows, you get rare, beautiful cars, old muscle, and rare supersports. Like, 60's muscle alongside Lotus Exige's and Lamborghini Murcielago's, and Maserati's, and such. This so called car show only had like, normal people cars."

Another eyebrow raise. "Normal people cars?"

"Yeah," Ayame responded, "You know. Like the mass-production cars, the passenger cars of Pontiac and Ford, Dodge and Chevy." She said. "It kinda sucked. But I guess it turned out all right, I mean, I met Sango out of it."

InuYasha hummed. "Sounds like you bro-" InuYasha was cut off as Ayame suddenly tilted her head up, stared him straight in the eyes, then kissed him on the mouth.

InuYasha stopped, surprised, then slowly responded, returning the kiss.

InuYasha was surprised as her soft sweet lips pressed against his with the utmost care. He liked it, and he really didn't want to stop. It seemed she didn't either. Neither of them showed any signs of stopping, until Sango slapped Ayame's bum.

"Ayame!" *Whack!*

Ayame broke off the kiss and jumped up, grabbing at her bum. InuYasha sat up laughing, as Ayame glared at Sango.

"I was _busy! _And that _hurt!_" Ayame growled, rubbing her bum. Sango winked at her. "Oh, I don't know, they way you two were going, I bet InuYasha would be willing to kiss it better!"

Ayame at least had the decency to blush, and InuYasha coughed, grabbing one of Ayame's Rockstars and popping the tab on it. He tilted it back and took a rather long swig of it, loving the feel of alcohol entering his body. The drink itself was great-tasting, but nothing compared to the feel of vodka burning an icy path down your throat and into your stomach. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Sango gave Ayame a suggestive smile, and Ayame nodded in return. Sango smirked, then slowly made her way back to Kagome.

Once the can was half empty, he stopped and gave the remainder to Ayame. She quickly chugged it, then grabbed InuYasha's hand.

"Follow me." She whispered, a naughty grin on her face.

InuYasha nodded, and followed her out of the livingroom. Ayame led him down the hall, then quickly glanced behind her, before pushing open Sango's door and dragging him in. Once inside, she slammed the door shut, and, not bothering to turn the lights on, began tearing at InuYasha's shirt.

InuYasha reached for the hem of her shirt in the semi-darkness, and together they removed each others shirt. Then it was back to passionate kissing in the dark, before they hit Sango's bed, entangled in each others arms.

-_-_-

Kagome and Sango watched Ayame lead InuYasha down the hallway from the corner of their eyes as they pretended to watch television, and as soon as they heard the door close, they started talking and giggling.

"You know what they're planning on doing, right?" Sango asked, a mischievious grin on her face.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Oh, I wonder." She said sarcastically.

"Well, I say we give them ten or fifteen minutes to really get into it, then bust in there screaming and yelling, turning the lights on and fuck their shit up!"

Kagome stared at her friend in horror. "You'd actually do that!?" She asked.

Sango chuckled. "Of course I would. After all, it's not like I'm having any fun with InuYasha, so why do I care?"

Kagome shook her head. "So if it was you and InuYasha in that room right now, you'd totally be against this idea, wouldn't you?"

Sango nodded happily. "Yup!"

"You know Ayame's gonna hate you for twat-blocking her, right?"

Sango shrugged. "The way I see it, their doing it on MY bed, after consuming MY alcohol, and if they really like each other that much anyway, then they won't mind waiting until their sober and out of my house before doing it. If not, well then I won't let Ayame get fucked over by a one night stand."

Kagome 'tsk' 'tsk'ed. "You know InuYasha isn't like that."

"He IS pretty drunk." She pointed out.

Kagome hummed. "Maybe...."

Sango smirked. "Let's go now." She suggested. "I think I can hear the sounds of sucking and fucking."

Kagome stifled a giggle, and they both got up, walking quietly down the hallway and pressing their ears against the door. Hearing nothing, they shot each other a confused look, before Sango shook her head.

"InuYasha must be _terrible_ if she's that quiet. It's not hard to make Ayame loud, she's a screamer."

Kagome's eyes widened. "And how do _you _know this?"

Sango grinned devilishly. "A few drunken nights much like these ones." Was her only reply before she twisted the door handle and shouldered the door open. As she did, she slapped the light on, yelling InuYasha's name. Kagome followed right in after her, but stopped short at what she saw.

InuYasha and Ayame were cuddled up together on the bed, Ayame closer to InuYasha than she ever thought they could get. They were both shirtless, but InuYasha had his pants on, and so did Ayame.

InuYasha made a shushing sound, and drew Ayame protectively closer to him. She was fast asleep, and making slight moaning sounds in her sleep. Occasionally, she would reach out and clutch InuYasha tighter to her body, whimpering slightly.

Sango smiled, and slapped the lightswitch.

"Mind if we join?" She asked.

InuYasha nodded, then realized they probably wouldn't see that. "Sure." He mumbled, then hummed. "Just don't interfere with me and Ayame." He said, somewhat grumpily.

Sango laughed, then started taking off her clothes. By now, their eyes had adjusted, and Kagome's eyes widened as she realized what she was doing.

"S-Sango?"

Sango shrugged. "I'm not sleeping in my clothes, and I know all of you, so I know nothings going to happen. The only guy here has a girl right now, and I know you aren't cheeky enough to try anything, so I'm pretty safe." She said. "Hurry up and get undressed and into bed. Seeing InuYasha and Ayame like that makes me lonely. I need a cuddle-buddy."

Kagome opened and closed her mouth several times, unable to summon the words. Finally, she just gave up, and decided to go along with it. She stripped down to her underwear, and climbed under the covers with Sango.

Sango hummed happily, and slipped her arms tightly around Kagome's waist, spooning against her.

"Night Kagome."

Kagome shivered at the feel of Sango's breath on her cheek. "Night Sango."

"Mmm, is that you Sango?" Ayame's sleepy voice said softly, earning a very soft curse from InuYasha. She had woken up.

"Sure is Kiddo, what can I do for ya?"

"Nothing." Ayame said sleepily. "You going to bed now?"

Sango nodded, unseen in the dark. "Yup. What, want a good-night kiss?"

Ayame hummed. "Wouldn't mind it." She said. Sango agreed, and let go of Kagome momentarily to turn over to face Ayame. Ayame, previously facing InuYasha, had rolled over to face Sango.

There seemed to be no awkwardness to either of them, as if it was a common thing, as Ayame leaned forward and kissed Sango on the lips. Sango didn't miss a beat, and tucked a strand of hair behind Ayame's ear, before whispering something in her ear, and turning back over.

Kagome wasn't sure what to make of her situation. Sango had just kissed another girl, and now here she was clinging to dear life to Kagome's waist. Kagome wasn't going to lie to herself; her stomach was a pit of butterflies. She wasn't sure why, earlier, but now had defined it as a mix of nervousness and excitement. She was nervous, because this was unexpected. Kagome didn't handle the unexpected too well. She was excited, because this was something new. Something she hadn't tried before, and something that she would be absolutely terrified of, if it wasn't for it coming from her best friend.

'_Well....this certainly is interesting..._' Kagome thought slowly, as she felt herself being pulled unconscious.

-_-_-

The next morning, InuYasha awoke first, the sunlight streaming in through the window slanting across his face and glaring in his eyes. He blinked a few times, before swallowing and realizing that his throat was really dry. He tried moving his head left and right a few times, and was pleased to realize that he didn't feel sick, and he didn't have a headache.

A slight stirring against his body made him look down, and he realized with faint surprise, that the red-head Ayame was nestled deeply in his arms, her face buried in his chest. His naked chest. His hand was against her back. Her bare back. Pressing her against him.

He swallowed convulsively, but relaxed when he realized that they both still had their pants on.

Okay, he thought. Headache and nausea test, check. Memory test....

As he always did upon awakening from a night of drinking, he assessed himself. First he checked for nausea and headache, and if they were fine, he proceeded to check and see if he could remember the night before. That was his standard for judging if he drank too much. If he couldn't remember the night, then he had drank too much.

He sighed, and squeezed his eyes shut, rolling over and pulling Ayame tighter against his body.

He remembered showing up with Kagome, getting drinks. He remembered Ayame showing up, he remembered their drunken walk. He remembered collapsing on the couch, then Ayame following suit. It started to get blurry from there, but he faintly remembered the kiss, and being dragged into this room here.

He smirked. Things had started off fairly heated, with lots of kissing and clothes removing. InuYasha remembered that he had stopped it there though, and suggested that they try to go to sleep. She was a bit dissappointed, he remembered, but she went along with it.

And now here we are, he thought. He looked at Ayame and smiled, wondering what she would have to say about their position when she woke up. As he rolled over to face the ceiling, he stopped, catching a glance of Sango and Kagome on the other side of the bed. He smirked.

Kagome was on her back, sleeping away, and Sango was passed out on top of her, cheek pressed against Kagome's bare stomach. InuYasha suppressed a laugh, and wondered also what Kagome would say about that.

His thoughts were cut off though, as a certain red-head stirred in his arms. He automatically loosened his arms, and she pulled away slightly to raise her head. As she did, InuYasha looked her in the eyes.

As they made eye contact, InuYasha saw her pupils rapidly dilate, and a blush spread across her cheeks.

"I-InuYasha!!"

A/N: Ending it there. Waking up after a night of drinking is always amusing, and I always do the things InuYasha did, every single time. Anyway, this fic of mine is taking a bit longer for the plot and storyline to come through, because I'm trying to develop it as realistically as I can. So bear with me, and within the next few chapters, the summary and title of this fic will come into play. I promise.


	4. Breakfast

Competition Chapter 4

"I-InuYasha!" Ayame exclaimed, blushing furiously as she looked up at him, realizing the extent of their nudity. InuYasha stared into her eyes, unsure of what to do.

"S-sorry..." He said. He started to pull away from her, before she reacted. She reached out and put a hand on his chest. "Stop."

InuYasha stopped, and Ayame, still blushing, slowly moved back into InuYasha's embrace. She closed her eyes, and buried her face in his chest.

"If you don't mind I don't mind." She whispered, knowing InuYasha would hear her. InuYasha said nothing, but he moved back toward her, and pulled her close to him again.

"I could use a few more hours of sleep..." He said casually, and he closed his eyes as Ayame's fingers slowly slid across his skin.

-_-_-

Kagome woke up slowly, stretching out along the bed as she yawned. Eyes still closed, she shivered slightly as warm air feathered across her stomach. A few seconds later, and she felt it again. Confused, she opened her eyes, and looked at her stomach. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she saw Sango sleeping peacefully with her head resting on her stomach. Kagome hesitated, unsure of what to do, before gently shaking Sango's shoulder.

"Sango..." Kagome whispered Sango's name, trying to get her to awaken.

More shaking. More name-whispering. Sango raised her head, and looked at Kagome sleepily, before sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah?" Sango asked quietly, looking over her shoulder to see InuYasha and Ayame cuddling together tightly.

"Sorry for waking you but....you were sorta on top of me and I needed to get out of bed." Kagome blushed. Sango nodded, and yawned, leaning back until her head hit the pillows. She closed her eyes, then said, "If you want anything, help yourself to it. I'll be up in a few minutes."

Kagome hummed, as she got up out of bed. She bent down, searching the floor for her clothes, and Sango cracked an eye open. She stared at Kagome's backside for a moment, before closing her eyes again. She crossed her legs, and yawned again, stretching out along the length of the bed.

Kagome put her clothes on slowly, trying to move slowly as to not aggravate her headache. It would go away once she drank some water, she knew, but until then, she wasn't exactly fond of the pain, and wanted as little of it as possible.

Kagome walked out of the room, running her hands through her hair and wincing at the strong sunlight that shone through the windows. A quick glance at the microwave in the kitchen told her it was eleven A.M., and it was Saturday. Sunday, tomorrow, was her last day off, then it was back to work for the next five days.

Kagome's stomach growled, and she opened the refrigerator. She grabbed a bottle of water, twisted the top off it, and downed the whole thing, realizing that she was a lot thirstier than she had thought.

She threw the empty water bottle under the cupboard, and grabbed another one, before walking to the pantry. She opened the sliding door, and gazed in, her tired mind wanting something that wouldn't be too hard on her stomach. She decided to settle for pop-tarts, and grabbed the box. She never bothered cooking hers, and she ate them straight out of the package, sitting down at the kitchen table and wondering what she was going to do for the rest of the day.

A few minutes later, and Sango came out. She looked at Kagome and smiled, before walking to the fridge.

"How'd you sleep, Kagome?" She asked. Kagome hummed, and then shrugged. "Alright, I guess." She said. "How are you feeling?"

Sango twisted the top off her water bottle, and took a drink. "Pretty good actually." She said. "No headache, just feel a bit dry." She said. "How about you?"

"Headache, but it will go away. Stomach is sorta borderline between fine and upset." She said.

Sango smirked. "Yeah that happens every once in a while."

Kagome smiled at her tiredly. "Soo...how are the other two?" She asked slyly.

Sango sat down at the table. "Good, actually. They look so cute together." She said, smiling. "Its weird though, but I guess it had to happen sometime." She said.

Kagome looked at her questioningly. "What had to?"

Sango reached over and snagged a piece of Kagome's chocolate pop-tart. Popping it into her mouth, she chewed for a minute, before answering.

"I don't know, but Ayame's always like this." She said. "She's so shy, but whenever she starts drinking, she loosens up, and it's good for her." Sango said. "She usually ends up dancing with someone, or drinking or spending time with someone at any parties we go to, but thats the extent of it." She said. "She's not....she isn't promiscuous, so she doesn't sleep with anyone, but she knows how to have fun, ya know?"

Kagome nodded to show that she understood.

Sango continued. "This is the first time she's showed any real interest in any particular guy. I wonder if this is someone she's actually interested in, as opposed to just having fun."

Kagome shrugged. "Your guess is better than mine, I suppose. I don't know her like you do."

Sango copied Kagome's shrug. "I'll talk to her later I guess."

Kagome smirked, and pulled out her phone. She swiftly texted InuYasha, then shoved her phone back in her pocket.

"What's the plan for the rest of today?" Kagome asked, before draining the rest of her bottle.

Sango hummed. "Probably clean up the living-room, then do whatever. We'll ask InuYasha and Ayame once they get up."

Kagome smiled. "They should be getting up soon, anyway."

Sango looked at her curiously. "Yeah? Why's that?"

Kagome pulled out her phone and waved it at Sango. "I texted InuYasha and told him to get up sometime today, and leave Ayame alone."

Sango laughed, and got up from her chair. "Might as well start cleaning now then." She said. Kagome stood up too. "I'll help."

InuYasha groaned as his phone vibrated, and he reached into his pants pocket to pull it out. He flipped it open, and a text from Kagome was awaiting him. He raised his head, confused, before realizing that Kagome and Sango were no longer in the bed with them. He sighed, and dropped his head back to the pillow.

_Hey InuYasha, get out of bed sometime today will ya? And leave Ayame alone, she's gotta be sick of ya by now! lmao jk. Hurry up though, me and Sango are bored._

InuYasha closed his eyes, and contemplated going back to sleep, but he wasn't tired anymore.

InuYasha slowly disentangled himself from Ayame, hesitating a second as he caught sight of her beautiful face. He stopped, watching her sleep for a few seconds, before tearing himself away. He walked around the foot of the bed, and stopped near the door, picking up his shirt. He shook it out, and slipped it on, shaking his head to smooth out his ruffled hair.

"Morning." He mumbled to Kagome and Sango, who were in the kitchen talking softly. They broke off as they heard him, then greeted him. He walked over to the cupboard, waiting for them to resume their conversation, but apparently it was girl-talk, for they did not resume talking.

"Mind if I eat some of your food Sango?"

Sango rolled her eyes. "You ask that every time, and what do I always say? Go ahead InuYasha, no one's stopping you."

InuYasha grabbed some pocky from the cupboard. "It's still nice to ask, you know." He grumbled, before walking to the fridge. He grabbed some chocolate milk, and poured himself a glass.

"So what are we doing today?" He asked.

Sango shook her head. "No idea." She said.

InuYasha hummed. "Well....why don't I drive Ayame home, she can shower, change, and while she's doing that I'll come back here. Pick up Kagome, take her home, she can do the same. We'll come back here, then decide where to go for breakfast." He said.

Sango stuck her tongue out. "That's a lot of driving for you though." She said. "If you take Kagome home, since she lives further and Ayame isn't up yet, I'll follow Ayame home. She brought her dirtbike, so....yeah. It's not street legal, so she needs a real ride. Once she's done at her house, I'll drive her back here, and you guys should be back by then." She said.

InuYasha nodded. "Sweet. Ready to go, Kagome?" He asked, heading to the door. Kagome nodded. "Yup. Let's go. See you soon Sango." She said.

Sango nodded, and waved. "Bye."

InuYasha headed toward the living room, wishing his car wasn't in gear so he could use his car starter. He always tried to warm his car up for a few minutes before he took off, because knowing the way he drived, it was too much of a strain on his engine to do those things to it while it was cold.

He slipped into his shoes, and left the house, blinking against the bright sun. He got in the car, and pressed the clutch to the floor, before turning the key. The car roared to life as it started to roll backward, and he popped the E-brake. He cut the wheel to the right, and as the car rolled backward, it eventually turned enough so that it was not pointed downhill. Now sideways on the downgrade, it stopped rolling, and sat idling in neutral. InuYasha shut his door, then pressed the auto-down switch. His power window rolled all the way down, and he stuck his arm out the window, resting it on the door. He leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes for a few minutes while he waited for Kagome.

A minute later, and the passenger door opened. Kagome got in, and the door was shut.

"Ready?" He asked. Kagome nodded as she held the button down for the window. "Whew! It's really warm in here, isn't it? Especially for early September. Today should be a really nice day!"

InuYasha laughed. "Black cars will do that." He said, before pressing the clutch to the floor. He threw his car in first, then slowly released the clutch. His car began rolling forward, and he cut the wheel to the left, aiming for the end of Sango's driveway.

"How you feeling?" He asked her, coming to a stop at the end of Sango's driveway.

Kaagome shrugged. "Pretty good, but I'm looking forward to that shower." She said. "You? How do you feel?"

InuYasha knew he wasn't imagining the sly tone in her voice, and in response he revved the engine. He pumped the pedal quickly, and the RPM shot up to three grand. Quickly, before they could fall back down to idle, he pumped the pedal twice more. As the needle touched the five on his tachometer, he dumped the clutch.

Sango was talking to a newly awakened Ayame, when she heard InuYasha's car revving. They cut off, falling silent as they listened to his car. Ayame smirked as squealing tires suddenly cut through the air. They listened as the squealing slowly got further away, then stopped, replaced by the sound of a fading engine.

"And that's where InuYasha is." Sango said, in response to Ayame's cut-off question.

"But don't worry, he'll be back in an hour or so."

Ayame bared her fangs in a grin. "What makes you think I'm worried?" She asked. Sango's eyebrow raised. "Oh, so you don't like him then?" She asked, feigning confusion.

Ayame was silent, wondering how to answer.

Sango smirked.

Ayame then smiled. "Just because I was wondering where he was, doesn't mean I'm worried." She said.

Sango laughed. "Suuuuure. I gotcha." She said, winking at Ayame.

Ayame was about to respond, when Sango cut her off.

"Anyway, the plan is that InuYasha is taking Kagome home to shower and stuff. When she's done, he's taking her back here. Then we're all going out for breakfast. Before they get back, I'm supposed to take you to your house so you can shower." She said.

Ayame raised an eyebrow. "Why don't I just drive myself home, so you can shower here, then I come back and meet you here?"

Sango shrugged. "It's what InuYasha seemed to want. I think he wanted you to leave your bike at home so he could drive you home later on tonight." She said, stifling a laugh.

Ayame thought about it, biting on her lower lip. Sango continued eating her cereal, and about two minutes later, Ayame finally turned to Sango. "Seems like a good plan." She said, grinning widely.

Sango chuckled, and drained her bowl of milk. "Alright, let's get out of here." She said. "They way InuYasha drives, we only have as long as it takes for Kagome to shower and dress before he's back again."

Ayame nodded, and got up. She headed into the living-room and did a quick search around the house to make sure she wasn't missing anything before slipping into her shoes. "Shall we?" She asked.

Sango nodded. "Let's."

InuYasha geared down as he neared Kagome's apartment complex, eyes roaming the side of the road for a place to park.

"Jeez, I hate parking on the sides of roads." He groaned. "My baby doesn't like it either."

Kagome rolled her eyes, and pointed to the tenent parking lot. "Just park in my parking spot then." She said. "Every tenent is given one parking stall, and since I don't have a car, you can park in my spot."

InuYasha looked the parking lot over, and apparently judged it safe enough to park his car in. "Fine..." He pulled in, and was about to shut off his car, when a thought occured to him. "How long does it take for you to shower?"

Kagome thought about it. "About half an hour, forty-five minutes. Why?"

InuYasha nodded. "I'm going to go to my house, shower and change, then come back and pick you up, okay?" Kagome nodded. "See you soon then."

Kagome got out, and InuYasha leaned out his window. "Text me a few minutes before your ready for me to pick you up." He said. "Traffic might be a little thick so that way you aren't waiting around with nothing to do until I get here." He said. Kagome nodded, and disappeared into the apartment building. InuYasha stared after her for a second, before switching his gaze to his mirrors.

He threw his car into reverse, and backed out of the parking stall, before accelerating hard. When he got to the end of the parking lot, he quickly looked to the left. There was a car coming, but far enough away that InuYasha could make it. He threw his car to the right, pulling out of the parking lot and accelerating hard down the road. He would have to go fast if he wanted to get home, shower, change, and make it back to Kagome's fast enough. He idly wondered if she had found his gift yet.

Kagome kicked her shoes off, and sighed. She could almost feel the hot water on her shoulders. She couldn't wait to get into the shower.

As she walked toward the bathroom, she passed by the kitchen table. Something caught her eye, and she stopped, turning to look at her table. Laying on the table was a piece of paper. She leaned forward and picked it up; it had more weight than she thought, and she saw that it was wrapped around something. There was writing on it, so she brought the paper to her face to read it.

_Take this and go buy yourself some goddamn food. Just because your stingy doesn't mean you gotta starve yourself, woman!_

Puzzled, Kagome unwrapped the paper. She froze as she spotted a few bills of money inside the paper, and she rapidly counted them. there was one hundred dollars in twenties, no doubt from InuYasha. She flipped the paper over, and recognized his writing.

She smiled. InuYasha had a soft side, she knew, but he never showed it. At least, not until now.

Regardless, she couldn't spend his money, she knew. Even if he was trying to show he cared for her, she couldn't. She also knew that InuYasha would never accept the money back, even going so far as to deny that it was his to begin with. She wouldn't embarrass him for doing something kind. No, that was why he was so often brash and uncaring. Perhaps, if she went about this with the utmost care, she could give the money back to him without him even knowing it, and still manage to be grateful. She smiled as a plan formed in her mind.

She knew that they were going out to breakfast later, but that wouldn't take all day. She would casually suggest that they go shopping, and then buy InuYasha some things. She would play it off as being grateful for him driving her around this weekend, but really, she would be using his money to buy him it, so it was like he never gave it to her.

Satisfied with her plan, she put the money in her wallet, then threw it on the table. Walking to her room, she grabbed a change of clothes before heading to the washroom.

InuYasha stepped out of the shower, feeling much better. His head was clearer, he wasn't tired anymore, and he was actually beginning to feel hungry. He dried himself off, before reaching for the clothes on the counter. He quickly slipped on a pair of dark red silk boxers, followed by a pair of dark blue jeans. They were slightly baggy, and hung off his hips a bit, but he didn't care. He zippered and buttoned them up, before pulling on a tight white shirt. The logo on the front was of a single skull, with the words "Live Free" across the top. He gathered up his clothes, and walked out of the bathroom, throwing them in the laundry basket at the end of the hall. He entered his room, and it was like walking into his own personal haven.

Almost every square inch of the walls were covered in car posters, and scantily clad women. His ceiling was a work-in-progress, and the only spot on his walls that was uncovered by posters was right beside his bed. There was a spot there, about head height, that was clear of posters. Instead, there hung on his wall three bandanas, one white, one red, and one black. Beside them were a multitude of hats, all with flat bills. He couldn't stand a hat with a curved beak, so he always bought flat ones. Today, he carefully sized them up, looking amongst the pure white ones, to the flat purple ones, the black ones, and the ones with designs. He hummed, and reached forward. He picked up an almost black one, and put it on backwards, laying his ears flat against his skull. There was text on the back of the hat that now showed on his forehead, reading, "Skin Industries". He walked to the mirror hanging on the back of his wall, and adjusted the hat, pulling the edge of the hat down low, so that it almost covered his eyebrows. He then turned his head slightly to the left, and saw that the bill was perfectly flat, sticking out from the back of his head. He grinned, and reached over to his dresser, grabbing a brush. He quickly brushed out his hair, still damp, as he looked himself over in the mirror. He nodded in approval, then disappeared into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

-_-_-

Sango pulled into Ayame's driveway, and honked her horn once. A few seconds later, Ayame ran out. Sango quickly analysed Ayame's outfit, and knew she was trying harder today, for some reason. Ayame was wearing her hair up in her usual twin ponytails, and wore a blood red V-neck T-shirt. It clung tightly to her body, and showed off Ayame's rather beautiful curves. She wore a pair of tight faded blue jeans that only Ayame managed to look that tempting in. The knees were ripped, and the fabric clung tightly to her thighs and backside. These particular jeans had no zipper; instead, they buttoned up with three small buttons where the zipper would be, and a regular button above the other three. The bottom two of these buttons were done up, while the big button and the top button were left undone. Sango greeted her as Ayame jumped into the car.

"Hey, sexy!" Sango said, smiling at her.

Ayame returned the smile as she put her seatbelt on. "Hello love."

"Where to?" Ayame asked as she adjusted the seat. Sango threw her transmission into reverse, and backed away from Ayame's house, before sliding into first and turning around.

"Back to my house." She answered. Ayame laughed. "Isn't it rediculous how far away, yet how close you are?" She asked. "I mean, driving versus walking anyway."

Sango laughed. "I never thought of it like that. It takes about four minutes to get from your house to mine, but thats going down this access road at over a hundred kilometers an hour." She said. "One time I did this road at a buck-forty, and I was at your house in about three minutes." She said. "Now, if you tried to walk that, I think you would find that it would take you slightly longer."

Ayame laughed. "Slightly."

Sango smiled, and turned onto the main road, accelerating hard.

"Soo....what exactly do you think of InuYasha?" Sango asked, shifting into second. Ayame shook her head. "Definitely good-looking." She said. "But I'm not forming opinions yet. I wanna get to know him before anything else." She said.

Sango nodded to herself, shifting to third. "Good, that's good." She said. Ayame smirked, and rolled down the passenger window. She stuck her arm out, and let the wind play with her hair as she stared out the windshield.

Sango glanced over, and saw the spaced-out look on her friends face again. It was starting to get to her. Ayame had been spacing out all morning, and she was starting to wonder if she was sick or something.

"You okay?" Sango asked, skipping fourth and putting her transmission in fifth.

Ayame blinked and looked over at her. "Yeah, why?"

"You've been spacing out ever since you woke up this morning. Tell me what is going on in that head of yours that's keeping you so damn occupied."

Ayame shook her head. "Nothing." She said. "Just thinking about him."

"Who?" Sango asked, already knowing the answer. She just wanted Ayame to say it.

Ayame cast her an annoyed glance. "InuYasha, who else?"

Sango smirked. "You'll see him soon enough." She said, pulling her car out of gear. Coasting in neutral, Sango lightly braked as she came upon the entrance to her driveway. As she got closer, she braked harder, until she was doing a safe enough speed to pull into her driveway. Her worn tires pulled her '02 blue Acura RSX into her driveway, and she pulled far over to the right, before whipping her car around to the left and parked it facing the driveway, instead of the house. They wouldn't be here long.

As they got out, Sango pressed a button on her keyless remote fob, and her car honked twice. Ayame looked at her questioningly.

"When you shut both of the doors now, it will lock itself." Sango explained. Ayame nodded, and shut her door. Sango closed hers, and a second later, they could hear the locks click shut.

They began walking toward the front door, and Ayame stopped. "Let's sit outside and wait for them." She suggested. Sango agreed, and they sat down on her front steps.

"Hey Ayame, don't you have your licence?" She asked. Ayame nodded, flicking some stray hair over her shoulder. "Yeah, but I don't have a car, so I never drive." She said.

Sango nodded. "Can you drive stick?"

Ayame nodded. "Yup. About as well as I can ride clutch."

"Who taught you?"

"Myself." Ayame replied.

Sango winced. "Ouch. What was the unlucky vehicle?"

Ayame laughed, despite being the one made fun of, and slapped Sango's shoulder. "I wasn't that bad." Ayame said. "And I had been riding dirt bikes for a few years at this point, when I learned a year or two ago, so the mechanics were understood. I knew what to do and what not to do, in theory, so all I had to do was put it in practice."

Sango couldn't help the grin that played at her lips, threatening to turn into laughter.

Ayame continued, oblivious as she anxiously listened for any sign of InuYasha. "I stalled twice before getting the hang of it in my dads old four-speed truck." She said. "I've driven something different at least once a week ever since to keep fresh." She said. "Sometimes my dads truck when he lets me take it to the store, other times my brothers Neon R/T."

"Has your dad ever let you drive his restored GTO Judge?"

Ayame laughed. "I'm still alive, aren't I? That's proof enough that I haven't asked that particularly stupid question."

Sango nodded seriously. "I see your point..." Then she changed subjects. "Have you ever driven anything like InuYasha's car or my car?" She asked. Ayame shook her head. "No, not really." She said. "Just four door family cars and trucks."

Sango nodded again. "Well, sports cars are funner to drive stick in." She said.

Ayame turned to look at her, this time the one trying not to laugh. "They're _funner_ are they? You sure?"

Sango nodded. "Yeah, they're so much funner tha..." Sango realized her mistake, and laughed. "You idiot. But yes, they are more fun than family cars. Handling is so much more responsive, and they get up and go so much faster."

Ayame hummed. "Well, maybe you could let me try driving yours some time." She suggested.

"Yeah, sure!" Sango agreed. "Well, we _are_ going out to lunch today, do you wanna drive my car there?"

Ayame hesitated, and Sango noticed it. "Or did you have other plans?"

Ayame shrugged. "W-well, I was sort of hoping InuYasha would ask me to ride with him. Failing that, I was going to ask if I could ride with him, providing Kagome didn't beat me to it." She said.

Sango nodded slowly. "Ahh....I see." She said. "Well, anytime you want to drive, just ask me, I'll be glad to let you try it."

Ayame smiled. "Thanks Sango."

Sango was about to reply, when a familiar exhaust note cut through the air. A second later, and InuYasha's black Celica pulled into Sango's drive. Sango assumed he was going to park somewhere around on her huge front drive, but InuYasha didn't seem to have any intention of stopping, as he idled toward the front steps where they were sitting. Sango watched as the front of his car came closer and closer, and wondered what InuYasha was doing.

Sango watched as his car slowed, almost imperceptibly, but continued to creep forward. Sango saw Ayame get up from the corner of her eye, and saw her retreat a step, going further up the steps that lead to her front porch.

Sango held her ground though, and sure enough InuYasha stopped his car about four inches from where Sango sat. She leaned back as the front of his car radiated heat, making her feel way too warm. She stood up, and joined Ayame as she sat in one of the chairs on the patio, as a laughing InuYasha got out of his car. Kagome got out a second later, and stepped around the front of his car to walk up the steps.

"InuYasha's an idiot." She said by way of greeting, earning a laugh from InuYasha. Sango pointed to InuYasha's car parked less than a foot from the bottom step of her porch. "I know, and his parking skills suck."

Kagome shook her head. "No, not even that. We were on our way back from my house where he picked me up, and as we get outside the city limits, he pulls right up on the ass of a big rig who apparently wasn't going fast enough. As if that wasn't stupid enough, when he moves his car over to the left to try to pass the rig, he almost gets hit by oncoming traffic. I don't know how he pulled that wheel over fast enough to get us back into our lane! And as if that wasn't good enough for him, he makes some stupid comment on how theres a big line of oncoming traffic, and passing in the oncoming traffic won't be possible for a while. So what does he do? He drops a gear and cuts the wheel to the right, pulling onto the paved shoulder of the highway, and starts to pass the big rig on the shoulder!"

Sango laughed. "That's InuYasha for you." She said.

Kagome glared at InuYasha. "You could have killed us!" She said. InuYasha shrugged. "But I didn't." He said.

Sango tried to calm Kagome. "Kagome, those shoulders are pretty wide. I pass on the shoulder all the time because some people think they need to start slowing down half a kilometer away from their left-hand turn, and there isn't turning lanes available because its only a dual-lane highway, one lane of traffic in each direction." She said. "It's really not so bad."

Kagome sighed. "Yeah, but it isn't safe. Combined with InuYasha's already reckless driving, it's downright dangerous." She said.

InuYasha grinned at her. "Thanks for the compliment." He said, reaching over and ruffling her hair.

Kagome ducked away from his hand, and he chuckled, before glancing at Ayame.

"Hey Ayame, how are you?" He asked.

Ayame looked him in the eyes, and was silent for a moment, considering her answer. "I'm fine, I feel a lot better now that I've showered." She said. InuYasha nodded. "Me too, feels so good to shower and change."

Sango perked up then, and looked at InuYasha. "Any idea where we're going for breakfast?" She asked. "I'm starving!"

InuYasha laughed. "Any ideas?"

"Let's decide on the way there." Sango said. "Let's get out of here."

They all got up and left Sango's porch, stepping around the front end of InuYasha's car. Ayame suddenly got nervous as Kagome approached InuYasha's car, and wondered if he had already asked Kagome to ride with him. In that case, it would be rude to ask Kagome to switch....

"Hey Ayame, do you want to ride with me instead of Kagome?"

Ayame's head shot up as she head InuYasha's voice, and she saw Kagome hesitating halfway into his car.

"S-sure, if it isn't too much trouble." She said, seeing Kagome get back out of InuYasha's car.

"Good, I was getting sick of Kagome's passenger-seat driving." He grinned at Kagome to show he was kidding, and she rewarded him by sticking her tongue out at him.

"Hit him for me, will you Ayame?" She asked. "I don't like him very much."

Ayame smiled at her, before getting into InuYasha's car. As InuYasha got in beside her, she looked out the window to see Kagome getting in with Sango.

"She won't be mad that you wanted me to ride with you, will she?" Ayame asked.

InuYasha shook his head. "Nope. She doesn't really care who she rides with." He said, starting his car. He threw his transmission into reverse, and backed away from Sango's porch. Once he was far enough away, he turned his car around, and rolled it down to the end of Sango's driveway, pulling up behind her as she rolled to a stop.

"Seatbelt on?" He asked. The sound of Ayame scrambling for her belt next to him told him she didn't have it on, and he smirked.

"Let's see if Sango will play with us or not." Ayame looked at him, a puzzled expression on her face. "Play?" She asked. InuYasha looked at her and grinned, revving his engine.

"You'll see." He said.

Ayame nodded.

InuYasha rolled down both his windows, and revved his engine again. This time he was rewarded by Sango revving hers, and he grinned. "Hmm....she might play."

After a few more seconds, Sango ever so slowly eased her car around the corner, and InuYasha followed suit. Sango accelerated gently, and InuYasha followed, the bumper of his car edging closer to hers.

"Come on Sango," He complained to no one in particular. "I thought we were gonna play!"

InuYasha let off the gas, and saw that they were doing about fifty down this road. They usually tripled this speed on the access road leading to the highway. It was newly paved, and it was smooth as glass.

"Fuck this." InuYasha cranked the wheel to the left, and slammed on the gas. Immediately, his car responded. The tires chirped, before finding traction, and they rocketed ahead. He pulled level with the RSX, and he let the RPMs build, intent on passing her if she wasn't going to go any faster. As his car sped by her, his phone rang. He picked it up, and answered, driving with one hand.

"Hello?" He said, letting go of the wheel to shift from second to third. He quickly grabbed the wheel as his car pulled slightly to the left, due to the slope of the road.

"Sorry, InuYasha," Sango's voice said into his ear. "But this is a no fly-by zone."

InuYasha was about to reply, but he heard her hang up. Looking in his mirror, he barely spotted Sango's car before it was gone from his mirrors. He looked straight ahead, and a second later, Sango's car flew by, inches from his passenger door. He started laughing, and Ayame looked at him.

InuYasha looked over to her, still smiling. "That car will do a quarter mile in about 15.9 seconds, which, isn't special, but it's decent enough to slap this car around." He said. "I don't know about it's zero to sixty, but I know I can get her off the line, just because I'm quicker with the clutch." He said. "Her cars certainly capable of tooling me up, but she doesn't drive aggressively enough, and her shifts are kind of slow." He said. "More often than not, I can simply scare her into slowing down or giving me the position I want." He laughed. "But she's getting better at driving."

Ayame smiled. "Do you two race often?"

InuYasha shrugged. "Not really race, but whenever we go somewhere together, I usually end up speeding, she usually ends up trying to catch up, and it just goes from there." He said.

Ayame smiled again, and InuYasha looked at her. She quickly looked away, but InuYasha thought her smile looked kind of sad.

"What's wrong?" He asked. Ayame shrugged. "I wish I had a vehicle." She said. "Then I could have as much fun as you two seem to have."

InuYasha grinned. "Yeah, it is fun, but I've also got myself into more than my fair share of scary situations because of it." He said. He shook his head. "Luckily though, the rate at which I learned about my car and what it is capable of, and my own skills and what I'm capable of outgrew the rate at which I could come up with stupid things to attempt, or else I'd be dead." He chuckled. He threw his car into neutral, and let his speed drop as he followed behind the RSX. They were coming up to where the access road met the highway, and as much as he would never admit it to anyone, he worried over Sango and Kagome in that car. It came stock with a pretty sporty clutch, and if she ever stalled, this would be one of the worst places to do it. Sango had to cross two lanes of traffic coming at her from the left, cross a median, and merge with two lanes of traffic flowing from the right.

He pulled up right behind her, and looked both ways. He let out a silent sigh of relief as he saw that the only traffic in both directions was far away, and pretty light.

"Okay, now that we're at the highway, the fun begins." He said.

Ayame looked at him. "How so?" She asked.

InuYasha glanced at her, as Sango gunned it across the highway, flying across the median and diving into the far lane.

"We get to play in traffic."

"Oh."

InuYasha revved up his engine, letting the needle hit 6 grand before dropping the clutch. InuYasha felt the tires break traction instantly, and he grinned as he held the wheelspin all through first gear. Cutting across the median, he looked quickly to the right, and seeing nothing but a few vehicles approaching from a few hundred feet away, he rally shifted into second. The tires chirped for a second, before gaining traction, and Ayame felt herself being pushed into her seat as the car accelerated hard. InuYasha fought torque steer for about a thousand RPM, before his car calmed down. InuYasha hit third gear and held the pedal to the floor, slowly catching up to Sango and Kagome.

Ayame stared at InuYasha as he concentrated on driving, and felt her breath hitch in her throat. His beautiful flowing silver hair, slightly tanned skin, gleaming golden eyes...Ayame tore her gaze away from him, and looked first at the speedometer, then out the windshield. They were doing a hundred and sixty and heading straight for the rear end of Sango's car. Ayame swallowed, and pulled on her seatbelt.

At the last second, InuYasha swerved into the left lane, and pressed the pedal down a bit further. His car's acceleration fell slightly, because he wasn't drafting off of Sango, but he was still doing alright.

Over the blasting wind, he heard Sango's engine RPM drop off as she pressed the clutch in, then they shot up even louder than before, and her whole car rocked before slowly pulling level with InuYasha's car. She had dropped a gear, and she was slowly gaining on him.

He glanced at his tach, and saw his RPM slowly climbing from six grand. A gear drop at those engine speeds would be pure suicide, so he would have to wait until he built more RPM before his engine would really shine.

He pressed the pedal to the floor, and Sango stopped gaining ground. They held even for seconds that seemed to stretch on forever, before InuYasha slowly started gaining inches on her. He could see Sango pound her steering wheel in frustration, and he knew it was more at herself than her car. If she really pushed it she could eat this car, but she was still nervous about going faster than one-forty or one-fifty.

InuYasha nailed his final upshift into fifth, and he laughed as Sango started to slowly but surely fall behind.

When he was far enough ahead of her, he pulled into her lane, grinning happily.

"Ahh, I love this car." He said. Ayame laughed. "That was pretty cool." InuYasha smirked. "Oh, Ayame, I haven't even started yet. You should ride with me on one of my crazy days."

Ayame shuddered. "I'm not sure if I'm brave enough." She said.

InuYasha started laughing, but was cut off as he flew past a sign saying that the max speed was 100. He was almost sixty over. He let off the gas, and gently pressed the brake, bringing his speed down to about one-twenty. He kept his transmission in sixth, keeping the RPM low.

"Pretty soon, we're gonna come up to a highway intersection. We have to make a left turn across oncoming traffic, in a double turning lane, but it leads into the city." He said. "Every time, I take the outside lane, and Sango takes the inside lane. She always tries to beat me off the line, and around the corner, but she never has the guts to try to squeeze her car between the cement lane divider and my car. We're proba-yup, look, there she goes."

InuYasha looked in his mirror, as Sango did a lane change, pulling up beside him.

InuYasha threw his car into neutral, and coasted up to the red light. Sango and his car were first up to the line, so they had no traffic in front of them to slow them down.

Rolling to a stop at the line, InuYasha touched the pedal and let his RPM almost redline, before dropping back down to idle. Sango answered with a rev of her own, and InuYasha nodded. "Oh yeah, she's gonna try."

InuYasha leaned forward and looked out his windshield, to see what the opposite lights had to say. They were yellow. He watched them. When they turned red, he threw his car into first and built the RPM to three grand. A second later he dropped the clutch, tires chirping before they hooked up with the pavement. A second later, the lights directly in front of him turned green, signalling that he could begin his turn.

InuYasha accelerated around the turn, and as he expected, Sango dropped back, unwilling to shove her car between a cement divider and InuYasha's own vehicle. He laughed, and when his RPM were about to redline, half-clutched and rally shifted. InuYasha grinned as a small rally pop came out of his exhaust, similar to a backfire. Half-clutching and rally shifting had sent unburned fuel through his exhaust, and when he romped on the throttle, the unburned fuel exploded out of his exhaust.

"Oh, she's talking dirty to me." InuYasha said, patting his steering wheel. Ayame's head came up, and she looked at him. "What did you say?"

InuYasha turned and looked at her innocently. "I said she's talking dirty to me." He said. "Didn't you hear her rally pop?"

Ayame nodded. "Yeah, just...weird choice of words." InuYasha grinned. "Oh, trust me, it can get a lot worse."

InuYasha let off the gas, and without throwing in the clutch, his exhaust slowly whined down, until it hit about fifteen hundred RPM. As it slowly fell lower, nothing but low growls and small rally pops could be heard coming from his exhaust.

"Mmm that run on the highway heated her up to the perfect temperature. She's making all the right sounds now." A quick look at his dash as he downshifted told him he needed gas.

"You wanna text Sango and tell her to follow me to the gas station?" He asked. "My baby's thirsty, and from there we can decide where to go to eat."

Ayame nodded, and pulled out her phone as InuYasha executed a lane change.

A few minutes later, and InuYasha pulled up to the pump, Sango right behind him.

He popped his gas tank cover, and got out, Ayame following suit. She stretched lazily, as InuYasha walked around and untwisted his gas cap. Unhooking the gas nozzle from the pump, he inserted it into his gas tank, and squeezed the handle.

"Drink up, gorgeous." He said, looking at the numbers on the dial. Ayame giggled, and InuYasha looked at her.

"What?"

Ayame shook her head. "Nothing. You're cute, that's all."

InuYasha smiled, and he looked into her eyes. "So are you."

Ayame wasn't expecting that, and she looked away, blushing lightly. She could hear Sango's doors opening, and a second later, they were joined by Kagome and Sango.

Kagome was the first to speak. "InuYasha, you are a horrible influence on Sango's driving, do you know that?"

InuYasha shrugged. "Its okay, she needs horrible influence to match her horrible driving."

Sango slapped his shoulder, and InuYasha laughed.

"Whatever, where are we eating?" She asked. InuYasha shrugged once more as he removed the pump.

"I don't know, but I'll eat anything so its mainly up to you guys. Be right back, gotta go pay."

Sango watched InuYasha walk into the gas station, and as soon as the glass door swung shut, she turned to Ayame.

"So what do you think of him now?"

Ayame hummed. "Still deciding." She said.

Kagome broke in just then. "What do you mean, what are you guys talking about?" She asked.

Sango smiled. "Wellll....It's not for sure yet, but it seems as if Ayame might have an interest in our dear InuYasha." She said. "She's waiting to get to know him better before she makes a move on him though."

Kagome stared at Ayame. "Y-you want InuYasha?"

Ayame nodded, blushing profusely. "H-he seems nice enough, anyway." She stammered. "And, I l-like him."

Kagome said nothing, but slowly she nodded. "Makes sense...." She said slowly.

Sango watched her friends reaction carefully, judging her facial expressions.

_Does Kagome have a problem with this? _Sango wondered. _And if she does, what will she do about it?_

A/N: Well, theres the next chapter. It's starting to get set up a bit more now. Ayame likes InuYasha, Sango will begin to like Kagome, Kagome it seems, is now slightly jealous of Ayame wanting InuYasha. What will she do? And will it be enough to pull InuYasha away from Ayame and toward herself?

Sorry for the amount of carplay near the end, I can't resist writing things like that whenever I get the chance. I enjoy it way too much. Hmm....not too much conversational development between InuYasha and Ayame during the car ride, but once InuYasha is out of earshot, a LOT of things come up in a short amount of time.

Please, review and let me know what you think! I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks!


	5. Complications

Competition Chapter 5

A/N Holy damn, I haven't updated in like two damn months! Sorry! Part of this lies with the fact that I had two new chapters typed up and ready to upload when a virus decimated my laptop and I had to system restore to like....2006. So not ALLLLL the blame lies with me......^_^

InuYasha grinned as they exited the movie theatre. They had gone to see Paranormal Activity, and InuYasha had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. Scary movies rarely affected him. Ayame, on his left, had looked interested, yet unafraid of the movie. That, however, didn't stop her from slowly moving her hand closer to InuYasha, until her hand brushed against his. InuYasha knew enough about female behaviour to know that she wanted to hold his hand. He slowly slipped his hand on top of hers, and intertwined their fingers. His ear twitched as he heard a soft hum in the back of Ayame's throat, but he didn't look over at her, lest she get embarrassed and pull away.

Kagome, on his right, caught the slight movement, and glanced at Ayame, before quickly looking back toward the screen. The movie was winding down to a close, so Kagome figured Ayame would get a whole ten minutes holding InuYasha's hand before they had to go.

Kagome smirked, and decided to one-up Ayame. Yawning softly, she turned to her right in her seat, facing Sango, and kicked her legs up, resting her legs on Sango's lap, and leaning back against InuYasha's arm. Kagome knew her and InuYasha had leaned against each other like this before, so it was no big deal. She turned her head to the left and continued to watch the ending of the movie. She could feel InuYasha moving around, getting comfortable with her leaning against him, then he fell still.

Suddenly, Sango put her hands on Kagome's legs, and gently slid her hands up and down Kagome's legs, rubbing her softly, almost absent-mindedly.

Kagome was surprised at the touching but said nothing. She wasn't uncomfortable with it, and she didn't really mind. It felt kind of nice. Plus, if it helped make InuYasha jealous....

The light outside was bright, and it was unseasonably warm. InuYasha shielded his eyes with one hand, the other still holding Ayame's tightly. It seemed that neither of them had noticed the continued contact, until Kagome grinned at them knowingly.

Ayame glanced at her questioningly, then saw her glance at their hands. Blushing furiously, she let her hand fall away from InuYasha's, and looked away uncomfortably when he cast a glance at her.

"Sorry..." InuYasha whispered, knowing she would hear him. Ayame was about to shake it off and object, when she stopped. She wanted so much to take his hand back in hers, but Kagome had sort of made that awkward. Now InuYasha believed he had done wrong....Ayame bit her lip, but said nothing. Anything she said would be overheard by the two girls at her side, and she didn't want that. She would have to explain later.

They walked into the parking lot, and walked slowly back to their car, talking about the movie.

When they reached their cars, Kagome jumped over to InuYasha, grinning widely at him. "I call shotgun!" She said, moving around to the passenger side. InuYasha grinned, then looked at Ayame out of the corner of his eye. A look of surprise flitted across her face, was quickly replaced with disappointment, and just as quickly covered up with indifference.

"Okay, I get Sango then." Ayame said. Sango was about to get into her car, when she stopped.

"Want to drive home?"

Ayame looked at her, then looked at InuYasha, who was inside his car already.

"Sure!" She said, moving around to the drivers side of the car. Sango tossed her the keys, then slid into the passenger seat.

"Thanks Sango!" Ayame said, when the doors were closed. Sango smiled. "No problem."

Ayame pressed the clutch to the floor, pulled the stick into neutral, and started the key. She released the clutch, and sat there for a minute, listening to the idle, and letting the car warm up. On her right, InuYasha was doing the same.

A few minutes later, InuYasha started backing up, and Ayame adjusted the seat a little bit, sliding it forward.

"Alright, let's see just how good of a driver InuYasha is." Ayame said, revving the engine slightly.

Sango took a deep breath, and pulled on her seatbelt, finding little comfort in the locking mechanism.

Ayame held the clutch to the floor and slipped the transmission into reverse. Slowly releasing the clutch, the pedal was about halfway out when the clutch began making contact, and the RPM dropped slightly as the vehicle began to slowly, almost imperceptibly, roll backwards.

Ayame pumped the gas pedal a few times, letting the clutch out a bit more. The car rolled backward, and Ayame cut the wheel to the left.

Once she was out, She put the transmission into first, and slowly eased the clutch out. The engine bogged down slightly before picking back up, and Ayame winced. She had almost stalled. She hated trying to get out of first gear on unknown vehicles.

She followed InuYasha out of the parking lot, and was driving the car very nicely until they hit the highway. Sango, who was beginning to relax, instantly tensed up when Ayame turned onto the highway and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

They began to gain on InuYasha, but apparently InuYasha saw them getting closer, and his car started speeding up. Ayame grinned, and placed her hand on the shift knob, watching as the needle approached redline.

Just below redline, Ayame threw the clutch in, shifted from second to third, blipped the throttle twice, then dropped the clutch. The car lurched forward, picking up speed. Ayame began inching the pedal back down toward the floor, and it wasn't long before she had to shift into fourth. Still, she wasn't catching up to InuYasha. This time, she pressed the pedal to the floor immediately after releasing the clutch, and her car began to gain slowly on them.

Suddenly, there was a small flash of flame from InuYasha's exhaust, and his car rocked before swerving to the left. Ayame guessed he had dropped a gear, and now InuYasha's car was flying past the traffic in front of her in the oncoming lane. Ayame wasn't sure what was in front of InuYasha, but she decided to follow him anyway. She flicked on her left blinker, and Sango shook her head.

"No. No, nonono!"

Too late. Ayame pulled into the oncoming lane and held the pedal to the floor. She chased after InuYasha, and shook her head in disbelief at what she saw.

They were at the bottom of a really long hill, never a good place to start passing in the oncoming lane, and on top of that, there was a long line of cars that had to be passed before there was an available place to pull back into the appropriate lane. Ayame hesitated and glanced at her RPM. Four grand. She looked at Sango, and Sango looked back at her, biting her lip. Ayame shrugged.

"I'm going for it."

Sango scrambled for the holy shit handles, as Ayame dropped a gear. The engine went from a growl to a scream, and the car lurched forward. She began passing cars, then they hit the hill. They began the long climb up, and could see InuYasha ahead of them in his car, still in the oncoming lane. Suddenly, his left blinker went on, and he pulled savagely into the right lane, and they could see why. A car had crested the hill in the oncoming lane and was speeding toward them. If InuYasha hadn't moved back into his lane when he did, it would have been a fatal collision.

"Ayame!"

Ayame bit her lip, and looked at the line of cars she had to pass in order to find a spot. Six cars. Damn.

The driver of the car coming toward them realized what was happening, and slowly started moving over toward the shoulder of the road, but it wouldn't be enough. There wasn't enough room.

Ayame passed one car. Then another. She stared out the windshield with a grim look of determination on her face, and she could hear Sango breathing heavily beside her, muttering something under her breath. The car was coming toward them really fast. They passed another car.

The car they just passed noticed what was happening, and hit his brakes, widening the gap between himself and the car in front. Ayame caught this movement in her side mirror, and breathed a sigh of relief. Flicking on her blinker, she pulled the car back into her lane, and a split second later, the oncoming car tore by them, horn blaring loudly. Ayame took a deep breath, then exhaled, trying to minimize her shuddery breath. Her hands began shaking, and she looked at Sango out of the corner of her eye.

"That was close." Ayame said.

Sango nodded. "It certainly was."

Suddenly, Sango's cell phone rang. She slid it out of her pocket, and flipped it open. "Hello?"

Ayame tried to listen in on the conversation, but couldn't hear anything over her engine. She shifted into fifth, and the engine noise faded into a hum.

"Here she is."

Sango reached over and passed the phone to Ayame.

"Hello?" She asked.

"Are you guys okay?" InuYasha's frantic voice sounded in her ear. She felt her stomach do a flip at the sound of his worried voice, and she couldn't suppress her smile.

"A little frightened, but okay, none the less."

"I wasn't expecting you guys to follow me, thats such a dangerous place to pass." He said. Ayame could hear the worry and ruefullness in his voice. "Dumb idea, eh?"

Ayame shrugged. "My dumb idea to follow you." She said.

InuYasha sighed, and there was a period of comfortable silence between them, before Ayame smirked. "What did Kagome say about that particular stunt?"

She could almost hear him wince.

"She gave me hell, as expected."

Ayame laughed. "Aww."

InuYasha sighed. "Well, guess I'll talk to you when we get to Sango's, eh?"

Ayame nodded, then spoke. "See you when I see you."

She hung up, and handed the phone back to Sango.

Sango pocketed it, and looked at Ayame.

Ayame felt her stare, but tried to resist looking over. After a minute, she failed. She met Sango's gaze. "What?" She asked innocently.

Sango shrugged. "I meant to ask you, but I was distracted by our near-death experience." She said scathingly. Ayame winced. "What's going on between you and InuYasha?" She continued.

Ayame shrugged. "I don't know, why do you ask?"

Sango smirked. "I saw that hand-holding, don't try to act like it's nothing."

Ayame blushed hard, and tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She gritted her teeth, and Sango stopped smirking, noticing that something was wrong.

"What...?"

"First Kagome smugly points it out, gets me embarrassed enough that I pull my hand out of InuYasha's, he thinks its his fault, apologizes to me, makes me feel worse, and now you." Ayame said softly.

Sango looked at her, about to speak, but she was cut off.

"Why do you two want to make me feel like I'm doing something wrong!?" Ayame shouted, refusing to make eye contact. She glared out the window, and Sango stared at her, not sure what to say.  
"Ayame...."

---

InuYasha grinned even as Kagome continued her ranting. She was less than pleased by this latest stunt, even more so that it had put Ayame and Sango in danger.

He flicked on his turn signal, and turned down the access road, accelerating hard before slamming on the brakes and turning into Sango's driveway. He idled to the end of the driveway, and turned his car ninety degrees, so that it wouldn't roll if he left it out of gear.

He shut off his engine and turned to look at Kagome. She glared at him, then abruptly softened. "InuYasha..."

InuYasha's eyes widened, and before he could react, Kagome leaned forward and kissed him on the mouth.

It was over as soon as it had begun, and InuYasha sat confused in his car as Kagome giggled, opening the passenger door and jumping out. A purring sound reached his ears, and a second later, the RSX pulled into the driveway. Ayame pulled up and stopped about three feet from InuYasha's driver door, smirking at him through the windshield. InuYasha opened his door wide enough to get out, then shut it. He walked over to the driver side of Sango's car and opened the door as she shut the car off.

"Thanks for letting me drive, Sango!" Ayame said, tossing the keys back to Sango.

Sango shook her head. "I'm honestly not sure if I ever want to let you drive again." Ayame sighed and shook her head. "I don't think I ever want to pass another vehicle ever again."

InuYasha laughed. All three women looked at him, and asked him what was so funny.

InuYasha smirked. "Look at it this way." He said. "All of us are fine, and we learned a valuable lesson. No harm done, so why worry about what _could _have happened?"

They were unable to deny his logic, and only offered mumbled protests.

InuYasha smiled. "Good. Now let's go inside and find something to do."

---

"Ooooh InuYasha....fuck.....FUCK!" Ayame groaned as InuYasha killed her once again with the knife in Modern Warfare 2, and she gritted her teeth. She swiftly changed her class, but it wouldn't be activated until she died again. She ran around the map, looking for him, M4A1 as her selected weapon. She turned a corner and saw InuYasha running for her, and she fired from the hip, holding the trigger down and spraying bullets everywhere.

InuYasha stayed calm and knew her pray-and-spray tactics would not be enough to get a kill, especially at this range. The more she fired, the less accurate her shots became. InuYasha entered a crouch, and a few bullets hit him, darkening his screen with blood. He switched to his pistol as another bullet hit him, and he aimed slowly, barely able to see with all the blood on his screen. When he had his sight lined up, he pulled the trigger twice, and Ayame hit the ground, dead. InuYasha burst out laughing, and a feral growl tore from Ayame's throat as she tossed the wireless PS3 controller to Sango, before launching herself at InuYasha. She hit him side-on, and pushed him to the ground, straddling his waist, trying to grab his throat. InuYasha had tears forming in the corners of his eyes, both at the kill and at Ayame's reaction.

InuYasha grabbed Ayame's hands to keep her from strangling him, and intertwined his fingers in hers. She glared down at him, and slowly, he stopped laughing. As his breathing returned to normal, Ayame leaned down, until her nose was touching his. He stared into her eyes, and could feel his heart speeding up. Slowly, Ayame's eyes drifted closed, and her head tilted to the side. She lowered her lips until they were inches from InuYasha's, but just as she was going to kiss him, she was painfully reminded that they weren't alone. Sango reached over and slapped Ayame hard on the bum, causing her to fall forward. She landed on top of InuYasha, and she blushed hard as she felt his lips against her chest. What an awkward place to land. She knew InuYasha probably didn't mind though.

She gasped as she felt him lick her on the chest, before rolling over so that he was on top. He got off her, and stood up, laughing at Sango. Ayame felt her face darken with a blush, as she stared up at InuYasha.

InuYasha picked up his controller, and moved over to sit on the couch beside Sango.

"Anyone else want to take me on?" He asked, smugly.

Sango shook her head. "I'm the only one who owns this game, and I can't even come close to beating you, so no." She said. "Why are you so damn good at everything you do?"

InuYasha shrugged. "I don't know, I just am."

Ayame got up off the floor, and slowly moved toward InuYasha. He moved over to make room for her on the couch, and she sat down beside him.

Sango turned off the system, and picked up the television remote. She switched inputs, then turned on her DVD player. A few seconds later, whatever movie that was in it loaded, and the movie started playing. It was halfway through the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, and Sango skipped back to the beginning.

"How many times have we watched this movie?" Kagome asked, laughing.

Sango shrugged. "Not enough times. Han is sooo hot. It sucks that he dies." She said.

Kagome raised an eyebrow. "Han? Hardly. Now, the sexy asian in the cafeteria with the long spiky black hair, yes. SO hot. But Han? No."

Sango shrugged again. "Hey, I like him, okay? Not to mention his Mazda. GODLY car."

Kagome hummed. "He has a nice car, I'll give him that." She conceded.

Sango turned to look at her, incredulous. "Nice? NICE!? Thats IT??"

Kagome leaned away. "Yes, its _nice._" She said defensively. "I prefer the Nissan 350Z over the RX-7 though."

Sango sighed, and shook her head. "Silly woman." Was all she had to say.

Kagome glared at her. "Hey, wh-" She was cut off as Sango put her arm around Kagome's shoulders, and pulled Kagome down into her lap. Kagome was about to protest, when Sango shushed her. "Just watch the movie."

Kagome fell silent, and focussed on the movie. Eventually, she began to feel comfortable with her head in Sango's lap, and it wasn't long before Sango was softly stroking Kagome's cheek, her fingertips sliding across her cheek and down her neck, over her shoulders and down her arms, before slipping back up. She did this slowly, repeatedly, and it wasn't long before Kagome's breathing slowed and she became extremely drowsy. Sango smiled down at the beautiful girl in her lap, and was that that they were still only in the first half hour of the movie. She wanted Kagome like this with her for as long as possible.

---

InuYasha laid down in his bed, exhausted. He couldn't wait to get to sleep, but he had a feeling this was going to be a long, sleepless night. The kiss with Kagome had confused him, not to mention that he was starting to really like Ayame. Ayame didn't know that Kagome had kissed him, and he wasn't sure he should tell her. No point creating problems, right...?

Kagome....

He sighed. He had liked her, once upon a time. Well as far as two days ago to be exact. Then Ayame had come into his life like a beautiful whirlwind of destruction, throwing everything into chaos. His feelings for Kagome, his general plan for winning her heart, and now that he was starting to fall for Ayame, it seemed that Kagome was finally starting to like him. That could be the only explanation for the kiss.....right?

He grimaced and closed his eyes.

Then his cell phone vibrated.

He moaned out loud, cursing the infernal device, and flipped it open, accessing his text messages. His ire disappeared in the blink of an eye as he saw that it was Ayame who had texted him.

_Hey, you still awake?_

InuYasha hummed and looked at the clock. It was 2:04. In the morning. He sighed.

_Yeah, and its two in the god damn morning :(_

He flipped his phone closed, and laid it on his bed. He didn't mind if it was Ayame texting him. He wouldn't have minded if it was Kagome either...

He smiled as he thought of Kagome. She was back on his mind again. They both were. Damn women....

And what was up with Sango? He smirked as he thought of Kagome in Sango's lap. It was interesting to think of what that could possibly mean regarding Sango....

He laughed out loud, then picked up his cell as it vibrated again.

_That sucks. I'm wide awake. Can't sleep._

InuYasha smirked.

_Yeah? why's that?_

InuYasha set his phone down again, and picked up his CD player remote. He hit play, and he could hear the CD spin up. A few seconds later, Andrew W.K. started playing, and he changed it to track seven, "She Is Beautiful."

His phone buzzed once more, and he flicked it open.

_Because I can't stop thinking of you._

InuYasha's eyes widened, and he wondered what to say. How do you reply to something like that? When a girl is so up front about it like that?  
He hummed, and wondered what to say. He needed something good....

His mind drew a blank. He just decided to be honest; it usually worked best. And right now, he was honestly wondering why. So thats what he asked her.

_Why?_

He never got a response. He eventually fell asleep holding his phone, wondering what was running through her mind.

---

_Earlier that night...._

InuYasha yawned as he got up, and apologized softly to Ayame for waking her. The movie had ended twenty minutes ago, but both Sango and Kagome had fallen asleep, Sango with her head leaning back against the sofa, and Kagome still in her lap. Ayame had passed out leaning against him, and he didn't want to wake her. But he had to go home eventually....

He slowly stood up, moving Ayame gently. She awoke slowly, yawning and reaching out to him, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and not letting go.

"Where are you going?" She asked softly, not wanting to wake the other two.

InuYasha smirked as he gently pulled her up with him, until she was standing beside him and leaning against him.

"I gotta go home." He said. "I work tomorrow. I didn't want to wake you, but I guess it's a good thing, because I can drive you home if you wanna go." He said.

Ayame thought about it for a moment, absent-mindedly wondering if he would let her come to his house to stay the night. She really didn't want to be alone tonight; she wanted to be in his arms.

But she didn't want him to think she was easy, or slutty. So she nodded.

"Yeah, I guess I'll go home." She said, whispering so as to try to better conceal the sadness in her voice.

InuYasha's ear twitched, and he heard the emotion in her voice, but he had no clue what she was thinking, and he wasn't sure if he should ask. She had pulled away from him anyway and was heading toward the front door where their shoes were, so he followed suit.

As Ayame bent over to slip into her shoes, InuYasha couldn't resist staring; it was too good not to.

When she straightened up, InuYasha averted his gaze, and quietly moved over to his shoes, slipping into them.

He hesitated for a second with his hand on the door handle and glanced back at Kagome. Ayame followed his gaze and looked at him questioningly, but he shook his head and quietly opened the door. He made an "after you" gesture, and she nodded, slipping outside. He followed suit, quietly shutting the door with a soft 'click'.

He unlocked his car doors, and Ayame jumped into the passenger seat, shivering slightly in the cool night air.

InuYasha walked around to the drivers side, and slid into his seat. He slid the key into the ignition and turned it to start. All the electricals came on, and his steering wheel unlocked, but he didn't start his car. Yet.

He kept his door open and one foot outside on the ground. He pulled his car out of gear, cut the wheel to the right. He began pushing with his foot, backing the car up and turning it so the back end faced the house. Once that was done, his car was pointing down the driveway. He got out, gave the car one good push on the A-pillar, and it started rolling slowly downhill. Ayame stared at him, wondering what he was doing, and he put a finger to his lips as he slipped back into the drivers seat. He used his steering wheel to guide the car down to the end of Sango's driveway, and once he reached it he pressed the brakes.

"My cars pretty loud," He said, "So I just wanted to get as far away from the house as I could before starting it."

"Oh. That's pretty thoughtful." Ayame said softly.

InuYasha smirked, and shut the drivers door, before turning the key. His engine growled to life, and he kept his foot off the gas. His car idled at about 1000 RPM, and he figured it was quiet enough, even with the exhaust.

He pressed the clutch to the floor, put it in first, and slowly released the clutch, not giving it any gas. The car slowly moved forward under the engines idling power, and he guided it onto the road. He slowly released the clutch until it was fully engaged, and he idled along at about ten kilometers an hour. Once he was far enough down the road, he gave it a little gas, and shifted at 2500 RPM into second.

"How far down the road do you live?" InuYasha questioned.

Ayame smiled. "Hmmm...well, we do about a buck-forty down this access road and reach my house in about two minutes." She said. InuYasha laughed as he slowly pressed the gas, accelerating gently.

"Well....I'm in no rush."

--

InuYasha pulled the car to a stop and saw someone peer out the window for a second, before disappearing from view.

"Who was that?" InuYasha asked curiously, wondering if Ayame had caught the movement. She had.

"My mom. Probably wondering who was coming into our driveway." She said. "She's so used to the sound of Sango's car that the sound of this one probably threw her off.

InuYasha laughed, and was about to lean over and give her a spur-of-the-moment kiss, when the front door opened and a woman stepped out.

"Oh and she's also crazy about meeting every single person I know when I bring them over." Ayame said, sighing. "She's not mean or anything, just....nosey."

InuYasha smiled at the woman coming toward them, although he knew there was a good chance that it was wasted on her, for three good reasons. It was dark out, his front window was slightly tinted, and his front window was catching enough light from the front porch that it was probably reflecting a slight glare, making seeing inside his vehicle nearly impossible.

InuYasha rolled down his window as the woman approached, and smiled again at her as she leaned down to look inside the car.

"Hello, I'm Ayame's mother." She said by way of greeting. "What's your name?"

InuYasha heard Ayame sigh, and he bit back a laugh. "My name is InuYasha. I met your lovely daughter a day or so ago, through my good friend Sango." He said, intentionally name-dropping Sango for safeties' sake. If this woman approved of Sango and knew that Sango was friends with InuYasha, it might make her less wary of him.

Indeed, it seemed to have an effect. Her eyes brightened, and her smile widened. "Oh, your one of Sango's friends?"

InuYasha nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"I see you drove my daughter home."

InuYasha nodded again. "Yeah, we were at Sango's watching a movie, and Sango passed out. I didn't feel like waking her, so I offered Ayame a drive home before I took off to go home myself."

Ayame's mom nodded. "That's certainly nice of you." She said. "Would you like to come in for a bit?"

InuYasha glanced at Ayame, who seemed frozen in her spot. Obviously her mom had never invited any of her other friends in before, and she was unsure of what to do.

InuYasha himself knew that such a question could be potentially loaded. His simple answer of yes or no could carry a lot of weight.

On one hand she could be inviting him in for the sake of being polite, and not really wanting or expecting him to say yes, or, she could be genuinely offering him to come in, and would be disappointed if he refused. Seeing as Ayame was shocked at the question, he was guessing it was something that had never happened before, or at least, something that hadn't happened often. He looked back at her mom, and smiled.

"Only if I won't be imposing...."

Her mom smiled brightly, and shook her head. "Of course not dear! Come on in!"

InuYasha glanced again at Ayame, wondering if he made the right move as he shut off his engine and put his car in gear.

She looked at her mom as her mom walked back toward the house, then looked at InuYasha and shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Was all she said before she got out of the car.

InuYasha rolled up his window before taking the key out of the ignition, and getting out. He shut his door, then looked down at himself. He was tired, but his clothes were clean and still fresh from the shower this morning, and he was sure that he smelled strongly of Ayame, seeing as she had been laying on him for the better part of three hours. He glanced at his reflection in the driver door window, and rubbed his face for a second to wake himself up and restore blood flow. Shrugging, he followed after Ayame, who was trudging toward the house.

Once inside, he sniffed softly at the air, unprepared for the assault on his nose. Ayame's enticing scent was multiplied strongly inside the house, and he was afraid that he might not be able to leave. He liked the smell too much. Amongst the scents was that of Ayame's mother, which carried traces of Ayame's scent, but was subtly different. There was yet another scent, much much stronger and distinctly male, and InuYasha assumed it was that of Ayame's father.

InuYasha kicked off his shoes, and followed Ayame through the strange house. She walked into the kitchen, where InuYasha scented chocolate chip cookies being baked. His mouth began watering, and his stomach agreed with the delicious smell in the form of a deep rumble. He placed a hand over his stomach as though he could silence it, and when he looked up he caught Ayame looking at him over her shoulder, giggling. He blushed lightly, and looked away the same time she did.

They stopped in the kitchen and InuYasha watched as Ayame's mother pulled a pan of chocolate chip cookies from the oven.

"Just in time, yes?" She asked, setting the pan on the stove and slipping the oven mitts off her hands. InuYasha nodded, and Ayame spoke up.

"Mmm they smell really good."

"Well," Her mother laughed, "You'll still have to wait a bit."

As Ayame's mother turned to sit at the kitchen table, InuYasha got a good look at her. And he was surprised at how young she looked.

Her skin was pale, contrasting sharply with her deep green eyes, and InuYasha could see that Ayame got her beautiful eyes from her mother. She had her dark red hair pulled into a single pony-tail, slightly different from Ayame's double. She was only marginally taller than Ayame herself, and wore conservative, but not old, clothes. Right now she was wearing a dark purple tight-fitting sweater, with the sleeves pulled up. Her right wrist was encircled with two black bands that seemed to be leather, and her right ear was peirced twice with small gold hoops. She wore tight faded blue jeans that she looked totally comfortable in, and InuYasha knew that if he spent any time at all at Ayame's house, she would immediately become like a second mother. Even now she was smiling warmly at him like he was welcome in her house any time.

"Please, sit." She gestured toward the kitchen table, and InuYasha slipped into action. He silently slid a chair out from the table and inclined his head toward it. Ayame caught the gesture, and thanked him, sitting down as he gently slid the chair under her and in toward the table slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ayame's mother raise an eyebrow and smile slightly at Ayame. InuYasha pretended not to notice, and slipped into a chair beside Ayame.

"How was your day today?" Her mother asked, looking back between the two teens curiously.

InuYasha and Ayame both started to speak at the same time, then stopped. InuYasha inclined his head toward her again, and Ayame blushed lightly, but continued speaking.

"I-it was fun, we went driving around for a while, found something to eat for breakfast, went to the mall and went shopping for a bit, then went to the movies." She said.

"Oh? What movie?" Her mother asked.

"Paranormal Activity."

"Which one is that? Sounds familiar, but..."

InuYasha spoke up. "The movie of the couple who experience hauntings in their room and buy a video camera to record it."

Her mother nodded. "Ahh that one. I don't like scary movies." She laughed. "So, you two went together?"

Ayame opened her mouth to speak, then thought better of what she was going to say, and stopped for a second. "Err....well, me and InuYasha went, and Sango and Kagome."

Her mother perked up at the mention of another girl, and questioned her about it.

"Kagome is InuYasha's friend, he's known her since they were little kids or something crazy like that."

Ayame's mother turned to InuYasha.

"A childhood friendship, eh? Those are always nice. Are you two dating?"

InuYasha noticed Ayame stiffen up at the words, and he could imagine that she was slightly embarrassed by the upfront questioning, as well as the insinuation that he might be dating another girl.

InuYasha shook his head. "No, I haven't dated Kagome. The opportunity never really came up, she's really picky with her guys and I'm afraid I could never qualify." He laughed. "Besides, she's perfect as a friend, I don't think I could see her as anything else."

This last part was to assuage Ayame, but he wasn't so sure he believed it. That kiss....Ayame still didn't know. A flash of guilt squirmed through him, but he brushed it away.

Her mother smiled. "Would you two like anything to drink?" She asked, getting up. Ayame hummed, then asked for mint-chocolate milk. InuYasha raised an eyebrow at it for a moment, and Ayame smiled. "Add mint flavouring to chocolate milk and its the best." She said.

InuYasha looked up at Ayame's mother, and smiled. "Just regular chocolate milk for me, please and thank you." He said.

Ayame's mother wandered over to the fridge, taking her time in the fridge, before making her way to the cupboard and taking down two cups. InuYasha knew she was observing them out of the corner of her eye, and he wondered idly what to do.

Ayame turned to InuYasha, unaffected or unaware of her mothers gaze, and smiled at him. "I had fun today." She said softly. InuYasha nodded. "I did too."

"We should definitely hang out again some time, if you want to."  
InuYasha looked into her eyes, and nodded again. "I definitely like the sound of that plan."

Ayame was about to speak, when she was interrupted by a cup being placed in front of her. She looked up and thanked her mom, before taking a sip. A cup was placed in front of InuYasha, and he thanked her too. He took a sip, and idly thought that there wasn't a single thing in the world that tasted better.

Almost immediately, his gaze slid to Ayame's neck, eyeing her tantalizing skin. He pushed that thought away as fast as it popped up. Mothers had a crazy sixth sense regarding things like that, and he wasn't about to screw up.

"So, InuYasha, do you work?"

InuYasha nodded and took a sip of his chocolate milk. "I work full time at a Toyota dealership, apprenticing as an automotive tech." He said. "It pays fairly well, plus its not a dead-end job. There's room to advance, branch out, grow, and the job security is pretty high, so I like it." He said.

Her mother nodded, seemingly pleased with the answer.

"Do you live out here around the acerages?" She asked.

InuYasha shook his head. "Nope. I live in the suburbs of the Park." He said. "Nice quiet place."

Her mother got up, and started scooping up cookies with a spatula and ladling them onto a plate. Once she had fifteen or twenty of them, she brought the plate over and set it in the middle of the table. She took one herself and motioned for the two teens to go ahead.

InuYasha grabbed a still-hot cookie and bit into it, immediately falling in love with Ayame's mothers' baking. He complimented her on her baking, and took another bite, chewing slowly.

"Mmm, these are as good as ever, Mum." Ayame said softly. Her mother smiled. "Why, thank you both. Have as many as you like, theres plenty more."

Suddenly, a soft buzzing sound was heard, and both Ayame and her mother looked at InuYasha. He pulled out his phone, and clicked a button on the side, silencing it.

"Sorry, text." He said. He kept his phone closed, and put it back in his pocket.

"Aren't you going to answer it?" Ayame asked. InuYasha shrugged. "I will later. It's rude to text at the table. If it was an emergency they would call me, not text me, so I'm alright."

Ayame hummed, and a small smile appeared on her mothers face.

They talked for a few more hours, and it was becoming obvious that Ayame's mother was quite pleased with the teen her daughter had brought home. Ayame's mother eventually suggested that they move to the den, and offered to refill their cups.

Once they got into the livingroom, her mother turned on the television, and they channel surfed while talking about anything and everything that came to mind. It was only when InuYasha's cell phone rang and he jumped off the couch where he had been sitting next to Ayame that her mom looked at the time and gasped. It was quarter past midnight, and InuYasha had to work tomorrow.

InuYasha came back into the room, and apologized, saying that it was only his mom wondering where he was, and if he was okay.

"No, dear, I'm the one who should be apologizing, I've kept you here this late and you work tomorrow, I'm so sorry!" She said.

InuYasha grinned and shook his head. "Nothing to worry about, it's all fine. But yes, I should be on my way."

"Of course, dear. I'm so sorry!"

"Nah, it's fine. I enjoyed the stay, thank you very much for inviting me in."

"Your welcome, any time."

Ayame got up off the couch, and walked with InuYasha and her mother to the front door, to say goodbye to him.

"Well, InuYasha, thanks again for dropping my daughter off, it is most appreciated."

InuYasha shook his head. "No problem at all." He said. "Thanks for the milk and cookies." He said, laughing.

"No problem dear. Your welcome here any time."

Her mother waved goodbye, then disappeared back into the livingroom, knowing that her daughter would want a few minutes alone with him.

"Thanks for dropping me off." She whispered, standing in front of him and looking up at him.

"Don't even worry." He whispered back. "Any time you need a ride anywhere, I'll be there for you."

Ayame reached up and slid her arms around InuYasha's neck, pulling him into a tight hug. She held him for a few minutes, not wanting to let go. Finally she did though, and she wondered if she should ask.

"Um..."

"Hm?" InuYasha looked at her curiously, wondering what she was going to say.

"C-can I have your number? You know, to like, text you and call you and stuff."

InuYasha smirked. "Sure."

He waited until she pulled her phone out and entered his name, then recited it for her. She read it back to him, and he nodded. "Yep, thats it."

"Okay, thanks. Have a good night, InuYasha." She said. "Drive carefully."

InuYasha laughed, and hugged her one more time. "Night Ayame."

Ayame watched as InuYasha turned, exited the door, and walked to his car. A few seconds later, and it rumbled to life, before pulling away slowly. Ayame watched through the window, then listened when the car disappeared from sight. When she could no longer hear it, she sighed, and turned around. She now felt lonely and empty without InuYasha here, and she didn't like it. The best she could do now was to go to bed, and hope to wake up tomorrow morning feeling not so lonely.

"Night Mom." She said as she passed by the living room.

"Going to bed now?"  
"Yep."  
"Okay, night love."

"Night."

Ayame walked into her room, and shut the door. The first thing she did was turn up the music that was always playing, and wake up her computer. She looked through her iTunes, and selected a different song, turning it up even more. She sighed, then yawned, and started stripping off her clothes, dropping them on the floor as she made her way to the closet. She grabbed the closest, baggiest T-shirt she could find, and pulled it over her head, before dropping onto her bed. She closed her eyes and pulled the covers over her head, reaching up to the light switch she had installed above her bed. She hit it, and the lights went out. It was a 3-way system, so either the switch above the bed or the one by the door controlled the lights, very convenient. She yawned one more time, and snuggled deep into the blankets, thoughts of InuYasha filling her mind.

---

InuYasha pulled into his driveway, and shut the car off. He sat there for a few minutes replaying the meeting with Ayame's mom in his mind. He sighed, and thought that he did pretty well. He got out of the car, and pocketed his keys as he shut the door. He pressed the button and his car locked, honking and flashing at him twice.

"G'night babe." He said in response, before unlocking the front door and going inside.

A quick shower later, and he dropped into bed, exhausted. Somehow though, he knew sleep would evade him. And tomorrow was a Monday, the busiest work day of the week. Damn.

---

Ayame turned over onto her side and stared at the clock. InuYasha had left an hour and a half ago and it was nearing 2 AM. She thought about texting him to see if he was still awake, then decided against it. Maybe she should call...? No, that was even worse. If he was sleeping, that would wake him up for sure. He would think she was crazy, calling him at 2 AM when he worked the next day. Maybe he would think it was an emergency....then he would ask if anything was wrong. What would she tell him? That she couldn't sleep cuz she couldn't stop thinking of him? She didn't want to scare him off......

Shit bit her lip, wondering. She felt the overwhelming need to talk to him. She couldn't....

She sighed. Texting it was. If he was asleep, then his vibrating phone shouldn't wake him up. She texted him a quick message, and closed her phone, not really expecting a reply. She was surprised when her phone buzzed, and she opened it to InuYasha's text.

She replied, absent-mindedly toying with the thought of telling him. Another text. Another reply.

She was lost in thought, and before she knew it, she was clicking send. Fear jolted through her as she realized she hadn't even been paying attention to what she had typed, especially because she was so tired. She could have said anything!

She flipped through her outbox, and froze when she read what she sent.

_Because I can't stop thinking of you._

Ayame's heart beat strongly in her chest, and she wondered if she had just royally fucked things up. She groaned, and flopped down on her bed, sighing to herself. What an idiot she was...

No reply came. She should have had a reply by now.

She gritted her teeth, and hit herself on the forehead with her phone, cursing her stupidity. He probably thought she was some obsessed little girl. Dammit...

She sighed, and held the power button on her phone, until it turned itself off. InuYasha obviously wasn't going to reply to her, and she didn't want any texts from her night owl friends. She just wanted to get to sleep and forget this mess.

A/N: Well....sorry for the long update time...BUT! I have finally updated! And the plot thickens! Oh yes! Tell me what you think, I love getting reviews!


	6. Too Much Stress

Competition, Chapter 6.

Ayame awoke slowly, yawning deeply as she stretched out on her bed. She kept her eyes squeezed tightly shut as she reached far over her head, moaning slightly as her ankles popped. She crossed her legs and squeezed, and something at the base of her spine cracked. As always, it hurt slightly, initially, but after a few seconds she felt much better. She held her stretch for a few more seconds, then relaxed, sighing deeply. A small smile graced her lips, and she thought idly about how much she loved waking up.

Now if only she had a cute guy to wake up to....

Her eyes flew open and she groaned as she remembered her text last night. She looked at her phone, which she had turned off, and sighed. She grabbed it off the bedside dressed, leaned over the edge of the bed, and grabbed the end of the charger. She plugged her phone in as she turned it on, and wondered if she would have a text message waiting for her. Her phone flashed a low battery warning at her, and she waited while her phone connected to her service provider. They would have held any incoming text messages, seeing as her phone was off.

She sighed, and snuggled deeper under her blankets, staring at the ceiling. A few minutes later and her phone vibrated. She picked it up, unsure of what she would see, unsure if she would like it.

_Why?_

Her heart skipped a beat, her fingers poised over the keys. She wondered what to say, and came up with nothing. She considered saying something sappy like, _A thousand texts couldn't illustrate the many facets of my feelings for you, nor convey their depth, _but decided against it. Instead, she decided to say nothing at all. Pretend she hadn't gotten it.

She closed her phone and set it on her bedside table to charge, while she reluctantly swung her legs out of bed. She gathered her clothes for a shower, and made her way down the hall, her mind entirely occupied with thoughts of InuYasha.

---

Ayame stepped out of the shower, dripping wet, and went through her usual routine. It usually took her a good half hour, forty-five minutes, and today was no different. By the time she was done, it was nearing one in the afternoon.

She opened the bathroom door and padded into her room, heading straight for her phone. She opened it up, and checked for messages; there was one from Sango asking what she was doing today. Ayame quickly replied with a _Nothing planned yet_, and started a new message.

_Hey, InuYasha, what are you doing today? You should come see me ;)_

Ayame sent it, then closed her phone, slipping it into the pocket of her jeans. She got up off her bed, and went over to the computer. She turned on her screen, turned up her music, and signed into MSN.

Her phone vibrated; Sango.

_Want to hang out today then? I've got nothing to do either. I drove Kagome to work earlier this morning, so I can't hang out with her until she gets off work._

Ayame keyed in a _Maybe, one sec._

She tapped her foot impatiently and flipped her phone open as soon as it vibrated.

_Haha, I wish I could come see you. I'm at work, busy day. I probably wont get off until 5 or so. Maybe after work?_

Ayame sighed, and shook her head. She had forgotten that InuYasha worked today.

"_Okay, after work it is, then."_

Ayame dialed Sango's number, and she picked up on the third ring.

"Hey." Sango said.

"Guess we can hang out." Ayame said.

Sango laughed. "You sound disappointed. Should I be offended?"

Ayame sighed. "No, but I just totally forgot that InuYasha worked today, on top of the fact that I sorta did something stupid last night.....Ugh, I'll tell you about it when you get here." She said. "When you coming over?"

Sango laughed. "I'm on my way out the door as we speak."

Ayame smiled. "Can't wait."

---

Kagome stifled a sigh as she placed the customers purchases into a plastic bag, and accepted the cash. "Why the hell couldn't you pay with Visa like everyone else?" She grumbled, irritated, as she entered the amount into her machine. The change flashed up on her screen, and the cash drawer opened.

"Pardon me, dear?" The middle-aged, slightly over-weight woman asked, leaning closer so she could hear Kagome. Kagome swiftly gathered the money and bumped the drawer closed with her hip as she turned to the woman with a fake, entirely too cheerful smile on her face.

"Nothing, just thinking out loud, is all. Have a nice day."

Kagome's smile disappeared mechanically when the woman turned away, and she snuck a glance at the time displayed in the corner of her monitor.

Kagome had never used the F-word before but she was sorely tempted to yell it out; four more hours left in her shift before she could go home.

Kagome wondered idly why she was so grumpy as she greeted the next person in line with a monotone voice, not having the energy to put any effort into it. She didn't even see the person in front of her as she scanned their groceries; her gaze stayed on the food coming toward her on the conveyor belt, and she tried to numb her mind as much as possible while still able to function and do her job. It made the time pass quicker.

She bagged the groceries; accepted payment; repeat.

As she looked up at her screen to punch in a produce code, she caught a glimpse of all the people lining up at her till, and she was tempted to say "screw this job" and leave.

Irritated, she swiftly went on auto-pilot and scanned the groceries mechanically as she wondered what was so wrong today. She had never liked her job, but she was exceptionally close to quitting today for some reason.

She knew that it had to do with InuYasha. InuYasha was getting caught up in that pretty red-haired woman, and was paying less and less attention to her. Not that she was an attention whore, but....

She wondered if InuYasha would hang out with her today after work. They both got off at the same time, five P.M., for her, and any time InuYasha felt like clocking out past 4:30.

Sango...Her mind wandered to her long time childhood friend, and wondered when their friendship had gotten so touchy-feely. What did it mean? Was it...?  
Kagome was cut off by a rather snobby sounding voice, and she looked up, breaking off her thought process.

"I _saaaid,_ I wanted to pay with cash instead. You've swiped my card three times, and every time I've clicked cancel. Do you _mind??_"  
Kagome looked up from her machine, and eyed the woman carefully.

"Sorry, _Ma'am_, I must not have heard you." Kagome handed the card back, and accepted the offered cash, pressing a few buttons and opening the cash drawer.

"Can't this store do any better, rather than hiring high-school dropout flunkie ditzy blondes who haven't a single clue how to pay attention to someone?"

Kagome gritted her teeth, and handed the change back to her, "accidentally" dropping the handful of change all over the counter, hiding the satisfying smirk that threatened to cross her face when most of the change bounced off the counter and onto the floor, rolling away in all directions.

"Oops. Guess a high-school flunkie doesn't have that much coordination."

"Bitch." The woman muttered, stuffing the bills into her purse and snapping it closed.

"Color-blind, cheap thrift-shopping, fat-ass whore." Kagome retorted, reaching over her shoulder and grabbing a length of her raven hair. "Does this look blonde to you?"

The woman's face colored with rage, but Kagome had had enough. She reached over her counter and grabbed the "Lane Closed" sign and slammed it down on her conveyor belt, earning a multitude of angry looks and moans. She ignored the muttering, and stomped off, heading for the stairs that lead to the "Employee's Only" area of the store, knowing she had to get out of here before she threw something at someone.

Knowing that the woman would most likely complain, and she would get fired, she decided that she would just quit first. Hands shaking with rage, it took her a few tries to swivel the combination lock to her tiny locker cube. Once she got it unlocked, she got her clothes out of the locker, and slammed it shut. She walked into the womens washroom, which was thankfully empty. Hurriedly she changed; she could feel the tears coming. Whenever she was overwhelmed with emotion, no matter what it was, it always turned to tears shortly after.

Grabbing her work clothes and nametag, she stormed out of the womens washroom and down the stairs, almost tripping on the second-last step. She caught herself, and pushed open the swinging door, stomping her way over to customer service, where her manager and punch clock was.

"I quit." She said coldly, throwing her uniform over the counter of the customer service counter and swiping her card through the punch clock for the last time, before throwing it over her shoulder and walking out. She left her manager sputtering behind her, asking why and trying to get her to stay to finish her shift, but she didn't care.

Feeling the tears beginning to slide down her cheeks, she kept her head down and walked fast, pulling out her cell phone. She wasn't sure if she should call him at work or not, but feeling like she had no choice, she pressed speed-dial 1.

After about three rings, InuYasha picked up.

"Hello?"

"I-InuYasha?" Her voice came out as a choking sob, now that she had heard his voice, she couldn't hold herself back anymore.

"Kagome? What's wrong?" Kagome heard a clanging of metal, then a soft curse, before he asked her again. "What's wrong?"

"I quit my job." She mumbled, still walking aimlessly through the parking lot.

"What? Why? Just now?"

"Y-yeah. I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do, my first thought was to call you, but your at work, so..."

"Do you need a ride home?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, my house is within walking distance, you know that."

InuYasha sighed, and she heard another clanking of metal.

"That doesn't mean you don't need a ride home." He said softly.

Kagome hesitated for a second, then gave in.

"I-if your not too busy...."

Kagome heard a car door slamming, and heard InuYasha's voice.

"Give me ten minutes."

The line went dead.

---

InuYasha quickly shoulder-checked, then flicked on his blinker and cut sharply to the left, accelerating hard. He used his left hand to shut his blinker off as his right hand went to his gear-shift, throwing his car into third gear. His left hand had a phone in it, and he was texting rapidly, as his right hand came up to grab the wheel and jerk it to the right, guiding his car back to the middle of his lane.

He glanced at the road ahead of him and pressed the gas a little harder, before looking back down at his phone.

A few seconds later and he was done his message. He clicked send and looked back up at the road, feet flying to the brakes and clutch before flicking on the right blinker and swerving back into the lane he was just in, albeit now in front of the slow-ass truck. He passed the car in the lane he just came out of, then swerved back in front of them, not bothering to signal. They were ten under the limit and if they couldn't see his car pulling in front of them then they shouldn't be driving.

He accelerated hard, shifting into fourth. His phone vibrated, and he checked the text.

_Yeah, I'll cover for you at work. I'll say you took one of the lot vehicles out to get gas or something. That work?_

InuYasha smirked. Perfect.

He dropped his phone into his lap, and threw his car back into third, accelerating hard.

Up ahead, he saw the light turn red, and he pressed the gas even harder. This highway was three lane, and he was in the middle. The lane he was in was currently occupied with a car waiting at the red light, and the same with the lane to the right. There was a car approaching the red light on his left, and if he.....

There!

The rear of his car pulled ahead of the front of the car to his left, and he swerved into the left lane, earning a blaring horn for cutting them off. He laughed, and slammed on the brakes. Not only did he get to the front of one of the lanes, if they rear-ended him, it was automatically their fault.

His car was non-ABS, and his tires locked up as he screeched to a stop, sliding about a foot over the white stop line painted on the road. A few seconds later, and a light cloud of tire smoke drifted past his car, and he could feel the stares of pedestrians and fellow drivers. He kept his head down, pretending to observe his phone, as he pawed his shifter from third to neutral. He revved his engine impatiently, sighing as the lights seemed to take forever to change.

Finally, they turned green, and he threw his car into first, before dropping the clutch. His tires squealed, and he pulled away from the green light, leaving everyone else behind. He didn't care. He had places to be.

---

Kagome looked up as a familiar exhaust note tore through the air, then dropped off significantly as a black car entered the parking lot, slowing down to avoid pedestrians and crawl over speedbumps. She couldn't help but smile as the car neared, and she saw the beautiful silver-haired boy driving it. She stood up from the bench she was sitting on, and slowly walked toward the car approaching the curb. InuYasha slowed to a stop and smiled at her, ripping the e-brake and throwing his car out of gear, before jumping out of his car.

He reached out and hugged her tight, pulling him into his warm embrace.

"You okay, Kagome?" He asked softly, her voice low in her ear.

She closed her eyes, and breathed in deep, holding it before letting it out slowly. "I'm getting better." She said softly.

InuYasha slowly released her, before walking her over to the passenger side of his car. He opened the door, and helped her in, before shutting it. He walked over to the drivers side, and got in, slamming his door.

"Where to? Your house?" He asked.

Kagome nodded tiredly. "I have a bunch of things to sort out now that I'm jobless." She said softly.

InuYasha clucked his tongue sympathetically, then revved his engine, slowly letting the clutch out. His car moved forward smoothly, and he guided it slowly amongst the walking pedestrians until he was out of the parking lot.

"So how did you manage to quit your job?" He asked her.

"I cussed out some woman who was giving me grief for the stupidest reason ever." She said. "So I decided to quit before I got fired."

InuYasha chuckled softly. "Good plan..." He was silent for a minute, before speaking up again. "How did sweet, mild-tempered, innocent Kagome end up cussing out a customer?"

Kagome sighed. "I had things on my mind and messed up something small, and she said something that I really didn't like, and I was already so full of stress that I snapped and said something back. Then I just up and left." She said.

InuYasha shook his head slowly.

"That job was garbage anyway." He said dismissively.

Kagome nodded, unable to speak for a minute. When she found her voice, she said softly, "That job paid my bills."

"You'll find another. Your a hard-working, honest beautiful girl. You'll be fine."

Kagome nodded again. "I hope so."

InuYasha was silent as he guided his car into the parking lot, and slowly maneuvred it into her parking stall. He shut off the engine, and pulled his key out of the ignition.

"I'll walk you to your door." He said softly, in response to her questioning glance.

InuYasha stepped up beside her, and took her hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He slowly walked with her over to the entrance to her building, and waited with her for the elevator. Once upstairs, he walked her to her door.

"Don't worry too much about things, okay Kagome?" He said. "Everything will work out fine. I'll drive you anywhere you need to go whenever I get the chance, we'll go job hunting whenever you want, things will be okay, okay?"

Kagome nodded, and InuYasha sighed. He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, and before he could get embarrassed over his action, he turned, prepared to walk away.

"I-InuYasha..." InuYasha froze at the pitiful and scared tone in her voice, and when he turned to look at her, she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight.

"Thank you." She whispered.

InuYasha nodded. "Any time."

When Kagome pulled away, she reached up and touched his cheek, before quickly sliding her hand behind his neck and pulling him down, pressing her lips against his own. Before he could react, she pulled away and disappeared inside her apartment, door locking softly.

InuYasha stood there for a second, staring at her door, before shaking his head. He slowly walked away, knowing that he had to get to work.

As he got into his car, his phone vibrated. He paused with his key in the ignition, and opened the text. It was a short one from Kagome, with the words _Thank You._  
He smiled, and turned the key, bringing his car to life. His phone vibrated again, and it was a text from Ayame.  
_How's work?_

InuYasha laughed.

_Don't know. I'm not there right now. I'm just leaving Kagome's._ He sent the message, and dropped the phone into his lap, throwing his car into reverse and carefully backing out.

---

Ayame looked at her phone, unable to understand. _Don't know. I'm not there right now. I'm just leaving Kagome's._

Her nose wrinkled in confusion, and her eyebrows narrowed.

"What's wrong?" Sango asked, sliding across the couch to get closer to Ayame.

Ayame said nothing; instead she tossed the phone onto the couch between her and Sango.

"I asked InuYasha how work was, and I got this." She said flatly, and Sango looked up at her in surprise at the tone of her voice, before glancing down at the phone.

She read the short message twice, before looking up at Ayame, feeling sorry for the girl.

"Why was he at Kagome's?" Sango asked, handing the phone back.

Ayame grabbed the phone and stuck it into her pocket. "I don't know." She said angrily. "I don't really care."

Sango didn't know what to say, and she stayed silent as Ayame glared at the television across from the couch, no doubt not even paying attention to it as a thousand thoughts flew through her mind.

It was silent for a few minutes, before Ayame growled. "I'm fucking pissed."

Sango looked at her, a look of caution on her face, advising her against anything ill-advised. She didn't know what Ayame might say or do, but she didn't want her doing anything she wouldn't like later. For all she knew, it could all be a big misunderstanding.

Sango faintly heard Ayame's phone vibrate, and the red-haired wolf demon waited a minute for it to stop vibrating before reaching into her pocket and pulling it out.

She glanced at it quickly, before lowering her phone and turning her gaze back to the television.

Sango was silent for a minute, before her curiosity got the best of her.

"What's it say?"

"Why you no talk?" Ayame said, shaking her head.

Sango knew something wasn't right. She pulled out her own phone and rapidly texted InuYasha.

_Why were you at Kagome's? Explain fast, because Ayame is getting riled up at the thought of you being at Kagome's while you were supposed to be at work. You haven't given her a reason for such, and she's flying off the deep end. Fix her, InuYasha!_

A few minutes passed in awkward silence; at least, awkward for Sango. She didn't know what to say.

Her phone buzzed. She opened it, and glanced down at it.

_You guys didn't know yet? I thought she'd tell you._

Sango grimaced.

_TELL US WHAT? STOP BEING SO FUCKING MYSTERIOUS!_

Sango threw her phone onto the table, and stood up, frustrated with InuYasha. Whatever was going on, he had better explain. She didn't like seeing Ayame so distressed.

"Did he text you back yet?" Sango asked softly.

All she got was a shake of the head.

"Want something to drink?"

Another shake.

Sango sighed, and picked up her phone, walking into the kitchen.

She reached into the fridge, and pulled out a bottle of water. Twisting the cap off, she took a sip. Her phone buzzed.

_Kagome quit her job about half an hour ago and called me crying her eyes out asked me to pick her up and take her home. What did you think I was doing at her house? Baking a damn cake? Why you guys all pissed off all of a sudden???_

Sango sighed softly.

_Sorry. Ayame was aggravated, and that got me stirred up. We'll all drop by Kagome's later tonight to see her. Text Ayame what you texted me, she thinks you were messing around or something with Kagome. _

Sango felt a little bit guilty sending that message. She wasn't a hundred percent sure thats what Ayame was worked up about, but it wasn't rocket science and it seemed the most obvious conclusion to draw from what Ayame had gotten in her texts.

Sango walked back into the living room and looked at Ayame.

"Gotten a text yet?"

Ayame was about to shake her head, when her phone buzzed. She looked at Sango, then slipped her phone out of her pocket. She looked at it for a few minutes, then slowly lowered it, and resumed watching the television.

Sango stared at her for a few minutes, before sighing. "Well?" She prompted.

Ayame didn't look at her. "I didn't know Kagome quit her job." She whispered.

Sango 'hmm'ed. "I didn't either, until now."

Ayame looked at her. "InuYasha really is a good person, isn't he?"

Sango smiled. "The best."

---

InuYasha sighed as he slipped the arms of the floor-jack under the vehicle, and he dropped onto the ground to make sure they were on the vehicle's lifting points. He felt and heard his phone vibrating, and "Run With The Wolves" by The Prodigy started playing. If he got a text, it vibrated. If someone was calling him, it vibrated and played music.

He ignored it for a few seconds, walking over to his tool chest and grabbing the wireless remote. He pressed and held the UP button, and the lift started going up, slowly picking the vehicle up off the ground.

Once it was in the air, he grabbed his 12 millimetre wrench and placed it on the oil drain plug, giving it a sharp twist. As he did, he grabbed an oil drain pan and pulled it under the vehicle. As he did, the plug fell out, and hot oil poured all over his hand.

He gritted his teeth, and yanked his hand back, cursing softly.

His phone was still ringing.

He reached into his pocket with his clean hand and flipped it open without looking at the caller I.D.

"WHAT!?!?" He screamed into the phone.

"...I-InuYasha?"

InuYasha sighed, and moved out from under the vehicle, watching the oil pour out.

"Sorry Ayame, I just burned myself on hot oil. How are you?" He asked, his voice considerably quieter and calmer.

"Very very sorry." She said softly.

InuYasha's ears twitched. "Why?"

"Because...I sort of got really really angry at the thought of you at Kagome's when you should be at work. I had a LOT of thoughts running through my mind...none of them were good....and....nevermind." She said. "Anyway, I'm sorry. Tell Kagome I'm sorry, okay?"

InuYasha licked his lips, and wondered what to say.

"Ayame?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I come see you after work?"

He could almost see her smiling through the phone.

"I'd like nothing more."

InuYasha grinned as the line went dead, and he snapped his phone shut, sliding it into his pocket.

He walked over to the parts computer, and selected Oil Filters. He entered the year, 1992, and clicked on Nissan as the Make. The Model was 240SX, and that gave him the part number he needed.

Whistling softly to himself, he walked over to Parts.

---

Ayame played with her phone, opening and closing it as she watched T.V. She couldn't take her mind off InuYasha, and a glance at the clock told her that he was just getting off work. He should be over here in about half an hour.

She groaned, and leaned her head back against the couch, closing her eyes.

Sango smirked at her as she came in, carrying two cups of chocolate milk.

"Something wrong?"

Ayame opened an eye, and glared at her. "Yeah." She mumbled. "InuYasha isn't here yet."

Sango laughed. "Calm down, you love-sick puppy! He'll be here when he gets here!"

Ayame's face turned dark red, and she glared at Sango.

"Hey, no one is talking about l-love, okay? So....shut it."

Sango grinned naughtily, and turned to the television. "Yeah, yeah...."

"Sango! I'm serious!"

Sango turned to her and stuck her tongue out at her. "Yeah yeah, your secret is safe with me, don't worry."

Ayame growled loudly. "There IS no SECRET! I DON'T LOVE HIM!"

Sango nodded. "Okay, okay," She said seriously, "You don't love him. That's okay too."

Ayame sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"I'm gonna go take a shower and change before he gets here." She mumbled, getting off the couch.

Sango looked at her, surprised. "Another one? You had one this morning. I mean, I like to be clean too, but..."

Ayame looked at her. "I need SOMETHING to do to distract me, or I'll go crazy." She said.

Sango laughed, and waved her off.

"Go ahead, I want to watch this show in peace anyway."

Ayame half-heartedly gave her the finger, before trudging up the stairs.

A/N: Well......Indeed. Come on people, wheres the reviews? I'm getting the hits, but not the reviews! Come on! I'm back to updating almost daily now and no one wants to review!


	7. In Depth

Competition, Chapter 7

InuYasha pulled his car into Ayame's driveway, and was surprised to see Sango's car here. Not that it was disappointing or anything, but he had figured she would have been alone.

InuYasha pulled his car up beside Sango's car, on the right, and shut his car off. He flipped down his visor and looked at himself in the mirror. He had gone home after work, showered and changed. He slapped the visor up and got out of his car, locking the doors more out of habit than necessity.

He walked up to Ayame's front door, and as he reached out to knock, it opened. He blinked as Sango appeared in front of him, looking over her shoulder.

"I'm leaving, don't you worry." Her voice had a sly quality to it, before she turned and came face to face with InuYasha.

"I-InuYasha!"

He nodded to her, and moved out of her way. She smiled, and waved.

"Talk to you guys later!"

InuYasha entered the house, and saw Ayame standing a few feet in front of him, staring at him. He smiled at her, and she took a few steps toward him, slipping her arms around his neck as he used his foot to close the door behind him.

"Hey." He said softly, closing his eyes as he pressed himself against her, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her tight against him. He bowed his head and put his nose against her neck, inhaling softly.

Ayame rested her forehead against his chest and felt her agitation fade away as he held her. He was finally here, and she couldn't be happier.

Slowly, she pulled away, and looked up into his eyes with a smile on her face.

"I'm glad your here InuYasha." She said softly. She took his hand, and lead him toward the couch. She sat down and pulled him down beside her, keeping a soft hold on his hand.

"How was work?" She asked.  
InuYasha shrugged. "Same as it was the day before, really. And I like that." He said. "Every once in a while though, something new will show up and I'll get to learn something, which is good."

Ayame smiled. "You like learning, eh?"

InuYasha grinned at her. "About cars."

Ayame hummed to herself and absent-mindedly thought to herself about how she should ask him if he wanted to learn something about her. Specifically her body.

She smirked at that, and stifled a giggle.

"What?" InuYasha asked.

Ayame shook her head, and leaned toward him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Nothing to worry about."

InuYasha hummed something non-descript, and closed his eyes, nervousness coursing through his stomach at the thought of Ayame being so close to him. True, he had had other women, some much closer to him in a far more physical sense than others, but this felt so much different. It felt...He couldn't explain it.

InuYasha turned his attention to the television, and tried to hide his surprise when Ayame pulled her legs up underneath her on the couch, moving closer to him and pulling his hand, still held in hers, into her lap.

Neither said anything, wondering what the other was thinking.

"Why was Sango over?" InuYasha asked quietly, attempting to make conversation.

Ayame hummed softly. "I was bored, so she came to keep me company while you were at work." She replied softly.

InuYasha said nothing for a minute, staring at the television. He was looking, but not seeing. If asked, he would have no idea what he was watching. His mind was filled with thoughts of a beautiful red-head, and he couldn't think of anything else.

"Why'd she leave?" He asked. Ayame paused for a second. "She uh, had to go home." She said. "Didn't tell me why though." She said, before he could ask.

InuYasha nodded slowly. "When do your parents get home?"

Ayame hummed. "Around eight." She said. "It's like..." She checked her phone. "Ten to seven right now."

InuYasha nodded. "Hmm."

Ayame smirked, and tilted her head up to look at him. "Hmm?"

InuYasha glanced down at her, then back at the television. "Hmm."

Ayame reached up and slipped her hand around his neck, leaning up and kissing him on the throat softly. She heard InuYasha's soft intake of breath, but she didn't stop. She closed her eyes, and licked his throat softly. She kissed him once more, before leaning back. She didn't move her hand.

InuYasha followed her as she laid down on her back. InuYasha hovered over her, staring into her deep green eyes. She tugged gently on his neck, and he needed no other encouragement. He leaned over her and kissed her on the mouth, moaning quietly as she wrapped her legs around his waist and slid both arms around his shoulders, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.

InuYasha felt her bite his bottom lip and he growled softly at her, making her hum gently in return. InuYasha started kissing her throat, making her tilt her head back and moan quietly in his ear.

Gently he dragged his fangs over her throat, feeling the shiver that ran through her body.

"Mmm InuYasha..."

InuYasha kissed her collarbone, then kissed her flushed skin all the way back up her throat. He kissed her cheek, then kissed her lips, mimicking her bite on the lip.

InuYasha nipped her on the underside of her jaw, before nibbling gently on her ear, whispering her name softly. In response Ayame pressed her body to his, running her fingers through his hair.

InuYasha kissed her on the lips once more, then tucked his face into the crook of her neck, closing his eyes and breathing in her enticing scent. Ayame didn't loosen her hold on him, and InuYasha didn't mind one bit.

"I-InuYasha?" Ayame asked softly, her voice wavering.

InuYasha's ear flicked at the tone of her voice, but he otherwise gave no indication that he had heard the tremor.

"Yeah?"

"I....We should go check on Kagome soon, don't you think?"

InuYasha nodded, but neither made a move to get up.

"I think I want to stay like this just a little bit longer though." InuYasha admitted. "It's really nice."

Ayame nodded her agreement. "It is."

InuYasha slowly rolled over so that he was on his side and holding Ayame against his body, and sighed. He kissed her on the lips again, then closed his eyes.

"Five more minutes like this, then we can leave."

Ayame rubbed her cheek against his in agreement. "Sounds okay to me."

---

Five minutes had turned into ten, then twenty. Half an hour later, they left out the front door, holding hands. They separated when they got to the car and neither said anything about it.

"Want to pick something up for food before we go?" InuYasha asked, starting his car.

Ayame hummed, debating for a second. She opened the door and made a move to get out. "I left my wa-"

InuYasha grabbed her arm and playfully pulled her back down into the seat.

"I've got money, come on."

He slowly backed up before pulling his car around, cutting the wheel to the right when he reached the end of her driveway and pulling out onto the deserted road without stopping. He sped up quickly, making his speedometer needle stand up straight as it pointed at 100 K/PH.

"Where do you want to go?" He asked.

Ayame looked at him. "No idea, any suggestions?"

InuYasha shrugged. "Call Kagome and see if theres anything in particular she wants us to bring her." He said.

Ayame nodded and took InuYasha's phone. She scrolled through the contacts, surprised at how many people he knew; unsettled at how many were females.

She found Kagome's name, and pressed the call button, raising the phone to her ear.

The phone rang three times, and was about to start its fourth, when it was picked up by a breathless Kagome.

"InuYasha? Sorry, my phone was cha-"

"Sorry, Kagome, it's not InuYasha." Ayame interrupted, trying not to be rude about it. "InuYasha and I are headed into town to come visit you and were gonna stop for food on the way there, and InuYasha was wondering if there was anything you wanted."

There was a pause as Kagome digested all the information. "U-um, just coffee." She said, her voice sounding uncertain. "InuYasha knows how I like it." She added, her voice regaining some of its lost energy.

Ayame talked to her for another minute or so, before hanging up.

"She just wants coffee." Ayame said to him, and he nodded.

"Well, make up your mind cutie, we're almost into town."

Ayame blushed lightly, and said nothing. Instead, she tried to concentrate on what she wanted to eat.

---

They pulled up into Kagome's unused parking spot and InuYasha shut his car off, leaving it in gear and ripping the E-brake up. He got out and locked his doors, looking around the parking lot for any suspicious figures, before stepping up onto the sidewalk. Ayame raised an eyebrow at his behaviour, and he shrugged.

"I don't like leaving my baby out here in this part of town." He grumbled.

Ayame laughed. "This part of town? Your kidding, right? This is like the nicest part of town. Just because its an apartment complex doesn't make it ghetto or dangerous or anything." She said. "Think about it. This suburb has 3 individual 1.1 million dollar show homes ALONE, not counting other suburbs. Do you really think this area is so dangerous?"

InuYasha shrugged. "Doesn't hurt to be cautious." He said.

Ayame smirked. "Well where do you live, Mr. Safety?" She asked. Then her smirk disappeared. "Actually, now I know where Kagome lives, I've always known Sango, so your place is about to be the only mystery!" She said. "You've got to take me to your place some time! Where do you live?"

InuYasha grinned. "In Foxboro, the nicest community there is in the Park. I park my car in an unattached, heated two car garage." He said. "Right alongside my winter vehicle."

Ayame hummed. "Now I REALLY want to see your place." She said. InuYasha laughed. "Why? It's just a house. It's bigger than a few others, but its just a house."

Ayame stuck her tongue out at him. "Easy to say that when your at the top." She said.

InuYasha shrugged as he pointed toward the stairs. "Your house isn't really that small either."

"Advantages of living on an acerage. We built that house." She said.

InuYasha knocked twice on Kagome's door, then twisted the handle. It was unlocked. He walked right in, and Ayame followed behind him, looking around at the less-than-spacious apartment.

"I'm home!" InuYasha called out, and a second later, Kagome appeared from down the hall.

"Hey InuYasha." She said. "Hi Ayame."

Ayame extended the hand with the coffee in it, and passed it to her. Kagome thanked her, and took a sip.

"Thanks, InuYasha." She said softly, not looking at him as she moved toward the living-room couch.

InuYasha said nothing; he motioned for Ayame to follow him over to the couch, and she sat on his right as he sat down with Kagome on his left.

"So what do you think?" InuYasha asked.

Kagome shrugged. "I think I'll have to cancel everything non-essential. Cable, internet, that type of thing. House phone too, and just keep up on the cell phone bill payments." She said. "Until I can find a job that can guarantee me similar pay with similar hours."

InuYasha nodded. "Want to go job-hunting when I get off work tomorrow?" He asked. "We can go for a drive, look around and see what's what. Never know, you might find something you like."

Kagome nodded. "Thanks, that would be most helpful."

InuYasha scoffed. "Silly woman. What a time to lose your job. Winter's coming."

Kagome sighed. "I know, InuYasha. But I can't help it now."

InuYasha said nothing, but he stared at Kagome's profile as she stared at the floor dejectedly.

"What kind of jobs are you looking for?" InuYasha asked.

Kagome shrugged. "I don't really have room to be picky, but if I could avoid cash registers, I'd be more than pleased." She said.

InuYasha smirked. "I'm sure."

Kagome looked at him, and smiled. "Anything, really. I can work in department stores, I can do stock, I can even pick up a night-shift job if I need to."

InuYasha wrinkled his nose. "Ew, don't do night-shift."

"Why?"

"Because. The pay is good, and it can be fun sometimes, but it's hard on your body. If you try to work a night job, then have any sort of life during the day, then have to work nights again, your going to exhaust yourself way too quick, and overwork yourself really easily. Especially going from a day job straight to a night one."

Kagome hummed softly.

InuYasha was silent for a moment as he thought, and he almost never noticed Ayame's hands slip around his arm, clutching tightly to his bicep. He slowly relaxed, and leaned back against the couch, feeling Ayame snuggle closer to him, getting comfortable but not releasing her hold on him.

"Tomorrow we'll cruise around the strip mall, see who's hiring and where you might want to work."

"Okay."

"Your just turned eighteen too, you can try the liquor store. That's a pretty chill job."

Kagome tilted her head to the side for a second. "Maybe."

InuYasha sighed, and looked at his phones mini-display.

"I should probably get going pretty quick, here." He said. "Sorry for the short visit, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and stuff."

Kagome nodded. "I understand, InuYasha. Thanks." She said, turning to meet his eyes.

InuYasha saw her gaze pause on his arm, with Ayame pressed up against him, before flicking to his eyes, and he swallowed nervously. Kagome ignored it though, and smiled at him.

"Have a good night, InuYasha."

InuYasha nodded, and slowly got up off the couch, Ayame reluctantly letting go of his arm.

"I'll go start the car and let it warm up a bit, be right back up." He said, motioning for Ayame to stay put, and heading toward the door.

InuYasha slipped into his shoes and was gone. Ayame curled up on Kagome's couch, pulling her legs under her and staring at the door where InuYasha had left.

There was silence between them for a moment, before Kagome spoke up.

"So when did you and InuYasha start hanging out?"

Ayame was deliberately slow in her answer. After a short pause, and a slow smile, she responded.

"He came over earlier today. After he got off work, he went home for a shower then came over to see me."

Kagome hummed. "What did you guys do?"

Ayame's only answer was the hot flush that creeped up across the back of her neck and colored her cheeks. She made no effort to hide nor show it to Kagome though and let the woman draw her own conclusions. She couldn't be lying if she said nothing at all.  
Kagome was silent. She stared at the red-headed wolf demon, and wasn't sure what to think. She knew that if she really wanted InuYasha, she could have him, no contest. And up until recently, she _had_ wanted InuYasha. She had just been too shy to make a move on the proud half-demon. Now Sango was confusing her and making her second-guess herself....

Kagome closed her eyes and shook her head, wondering if any of this would ever make sense. She sure hoped so.

"Ready to go home, Ayame?" InuYasha's strong, but soft voice carried over to them from the hallway, and Kagome opened her eyes and looked up as Ayame nodded.

He smiled at her, then moved over so she could reach her shoes.

"I'll see you tomorrow around six." He said to Kagome. "Don't worry. We'll get you back on your feet." He flashed his confident, toothy smile at her, and was out the door before she could respond.

---

InuYasha backed out of the parking stall, and slowly moved his car toward the unlined two lane road leading them out of the suburb and toward the highway.

"Sorry the visit was so short." InuYasha said sheepishly, shifting gears. "I just have to get you home at a decent time, and get to bed soon." He yawned, and shoulder-checked, before changing lanes. "I'm dead tired and I could use a good night's sleep."

Ayame winced. "Sorry...."

InuYasha grinned. "Don't worry, it's fiiiine."

InuYasha entered the turning lane, and got on the brakes a little later than usual, his front end diving toward the ground. He shifted from fourth to third, holding the clutch to the floor, and revved the engine. He checked his speed, made a quick estimate, and revved his engine to about thirty-five hundred RPM, letting the clutch out. His engine hooked up to his transmission almost perfectly, with barely any clutch slippage.

_'Two hundred and fifty, maybe three hundred RPM difference between engine and transmission, if that.'_ He thought absent-mindedly to himself as he guided his car around the free-flow traffic turning lane onto the highway that lead to Ayame's house.

He pressed the pedal to the floor and sped up, his mind now on the red-headed passenger beside him.

There was a brief comfortable silence between them for about five minutes, before InuYasha spoke up softly.

"What are you doing this weekend?" He asked.

Ayame shook her head. "Probably either doing nothing at all, or hanging out with Sango." She said. "Why?"

InuYasha hummed, and opened his phone. A text from Kagome asking if he would stop by his house before he went home. He dropped his phone in his lap, and returned his hand to the steering wheel.

"Because, if your not busy, we should do something. If you want."

Ayame wondered if he was asking her to hang out, or if he was asking her out on a date.

She smirked. Did it really matter? He wanted to spend time with her, that was really all that mattered.

"Sure, I'd love to." She said softly. "I'll let you know sometime tomorrow if anything is happening."

InuYasha smiled as he decelerated toward the turning lane. "Perfect."

InuYasha guided the car up the driveway, and saw the curtains flick for a second, a shadow disappearing from the window.

"See you tomorrow." InuYasha said, looking over at her.

Ayame smiled at him, then threw a quick glance at the window. Seeing nothing, she leaned in and gave InuYasha a peck on the lips, smirking naughtily at him.

"Have a good night." She said, climbing out of his car. She shut the door, and began walking toward her front door. InuYasha watched her until she disappeared inside, then picked up his phone.

_Why?_ Was all he sent back to Kagome.

He pulled out of Ayame's driveway, and accelerated down the highway, wondering what Kagome's response would be.  
_Pretty please?_

InuYasha rolled his eyes, and checked his tach. 3500. He kicked the clutch in, and downshifted, popping the clutch. His engine wound up angrily, and his car shot forward. A quick glance at the dashboard clock told him it was close to nine. Better get this done and overwith, see what she wants.

A/N: Slowly, ever so slowly, things start to come together =3. Please read and review, let me know what you think. Sorry about the chapters relatively short length, theres a bunch of stuff coming up that I wanted to do all in one or two chapters, and I didn't want to get halfway through it in this chapter and stop. Thanks for reading!


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